The 
NewCentury 
Bible    ^ 


1 6^11  Kings 


;*     JAN    3   1910      *] 


Division        T^SA^ 
Settioa  \  ■ 


Volumes  already  published  or  m  preparation  : — 
NEW    TESTAMENT. 

1.  MATTHEW,  by  Prof.  W.  F.  Slater,  M.A. 

2.  MARK,  by  Principal  Salmond,  D.D. 

3.  LUKE,  by  Principal  W.  F.  Adeney,  D.D. 

4.  JOHN,  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  McClymont,  D.D. 

5.  ACTS,  by  Prof.  J.  VERNON  Bartlet,  M.A. 

6.  ROMANS,  by  the  Rev.  A.  E.  Garvie,  M.A.,  B.D. 

7.  I  AND  II  CORINTHIANS,  by  Prof.  J.  Massie,  M.A.,  D.D. 

8.  EPHESIANS.COLOSSIANS,  PHILEMON,  PHILIP- 

PIANS,  by  the  Rev.  G.  CuRRiE  Martin,  M.A.,  B.D. 
Q.  I  AND  II  THESSALONIANS,  GALATIANS,  by  Prin- 
cipal W.  F.  Adeney,  D.D. 

10.  THE    PASTORAL    EPISTLES,   by  the  Rev.    R.    F. 

HORTON,  M.A.,  D.D. 

11.  HEBREWS,  bv  Prof.  A.  S.  Peake,  M.A. 

12.  THE  GENERAL  EPISTLES,  by  Prof.  W.  H.  Bennett, 

D.D. 

13.  REVELATION,  by  the  Rev.  C.  Anderson  Scott,  M.A. 


OLD    TESTAMENT. 

GENESIS,   by  the   Rev.    Prof.  W.  H.   Bennett,  Litt.D., 

D.D. 
JUDGES  and   RUTH,   by  the  Rev.    G.   W.  Thatcher, 

M.A.,  B.D. 
I  and  II  SAMUEL,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy, 

M.A.,  D.D. 
JOB,  by  Prof.  A.  S.  Peake,  M.A. 
I  and  II  KINGS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof,  Skinner,  D.D. 
PS  ALMS(Vol.I)  I  TO  LXXII.by  the  Rev.  Prof.  Davison,  D.D. 
PSALMS  (Vol.   II)  LXXIII  to   END,  by  the  Rev.   Prof. 

Davison,  D.D. 
ISAIAH,  by  the  Rev.  Principal  Whitehouse,  M.A.,  D.D. 
MINOR   PROPHETS:    Hosea,  Joel,    Amos.    Obadiah, 

Jonah,  Micah,  by  the  Rev.  R.  F.  HORTON,  M.A.,  D.D. 
MINOR   PROPHETS  :    Nahum,  Habakkuk,  Zephaniah, 

Haggai,   ZechARIAH,    Malachi,    by  the   Rev.   Canon 

Driver.  D.D. 


THE    NEW-CENTURY   BIBLE 

KINGS 


OXFORD 
HORACE  HART,    PRINTER   TO   THE  UNIVERSITY 


/js- 


^-%% 


sr^l 


"^ 


>A^ 


General  Editor  : 
Principal  Walter  F.  Adeney,  M.A.,  D.D. 


^in^e 


INTRODUCTION 

REVISED  VERSION   WITH    NOTES 

INDEX  AND  MAP 


EDITED    BY  ,- 

REV.  PROFESSOR  SKINNER,  D.D. 


NEW  YORK:   HENRY  FROWDE 

OXFORD   UNIVERSITY    PRESS,    AMERICAN    BRANCH 

EDINBURGH :   T.  C.  &  E.  C.  JACK 


The  Revised  Version  is  printed  by  permission  of  the 
Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction i 

Text  of  the  Revised  Version  with  Annotations  55 

Appendix  : 

Note     I.  On  the  Site  of  Solomon's  Buildings       .         .  440 

Note    II.  On  the  Stor}'  of  Jeroboam  in  the  LXX          .  443 
Note  III.  On  the  Chronology  of  the  Reigns  of  Amaziah, 

Azariah,  and  Jeroboam  II       .         .         .  447 

Index 449 


Map  of  Syria,  Assyria,  and  Babylonia. 
Plan  of  Jerusalem. 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  KINGS 

INTRODUCTION 


I   AND  II    KINGS 


INTRODUCTION 

I.  Historical  and  Religious  value  of  the  Book. 

The  historical  writings  of  the  O.  T.  (from  which  we 
exclude  the  five  books  of  the  Law)  are  in  the  Hebrew 
Canon  sharply  divided  into  two  groups.  The  older 
group,  consisting  of  the  four  books  of  Joshua,  Judges, 
Samuel,  and  Kings,  bore  the  title  of  '  The  Earlier  Pro- 
phets,' and  forms  the  first  half  of  the  middle  or  Prophetic 
division  of  the  Canon  ^.  The  later  group  was  placed 
in  the  third  part  of  the  Canon  (the  so-called  '  Writings  * 

^  That  Samuel  and  Kings  formed  each  but  one  book  origin- 
ally is  clear  from  the  unnatural  interruption  of  the  narrative 
ui.  the  points  of  section  ;  and  is  besides  amply  attested  by 
external  evidence.  The  partition  was  first  made  in  copies  of 
the  LXX,  where  our  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  appear  as 
the  First,  Second,  Third  and  Fourth  books  of  *  Kingdoms.' 
From  the  LXX  the  division  found  its  way  into  later  versions  ; 
it  was  not  introduced  into  Hebrew  Bibles  until  after  the  inven- 
tion of  printing  (second  Bomberg  Bible,  1517  a.  d.).  A  trace 
of  the  secondary  character  of  the  partition  even  in  the  LXX 
remains  in  the  fact  that  the  Vatican  MS.  repeats  in  both  cases 
the  first  verse  of  the  second  book  at  the  end  of  the  first  book. 
This  difference  between  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  texts  was 
known  to  Origen  and  Jerome,  the  foremost  representatives  of 
Hebrew  scholarship  amongst  the  Fathers.  Thus  in  Origen's 
list  of  O.  T.  books  quoted  by  Eusebius  {Ht'st.  Eccl.  vi.  25.  2) 
we  read,  '  First  and  Second  Kingdoms,  amongst  them  (the 
Jews)  one — Samuel,  ^'the  called  of  God,"  Third  and  Fourth 
Kingdoms,  in  one— Ouammelch  David,  which  means  "the 
Kingdom  (sic)  of  David."*  Similarly  Jerome,  in  his  Prologus 
galeatus,  speaks  of  '  Samuel,  which  we  call  First  and  Second 
Kingdoms,'  and  'Kings,  which  is  contained  in  the  Third  and 
Fourth  volumes  of  Kingdoms.'  We  are  therefore  thoroughly 
justified  in  treating  the  Book  of  Kings  as  a  single  work. 

B  2 


4  I    AND    II    KINGS 

or  Hagiographa),  and  was  composed  of  the  two  books 
of  Chronicles  and  Ezra-Nehemiah,  which  in  ordinary 
editions  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  stand  (in  reversed  order) 
at  the  close  of  the  whole  collection.  To  this  diflference 
of  canonical  position  corresponds  a  marked  diversity  of 
character,  which  may  best  be  expressed  by  saying  that 
the  two  groups  represent  the  labours  of  two  distinct 
historical  schools.  The  outstanding  feature  of  the  earlier 
group  is  what  is  termed  the  Deuteronomic  redaction ; 
that  is  to  say,  these  books  were  thrown  into  shape  and 
edited  (in  ways  to  be  afterwards  explained)  by  a  school 
of  writers  who  were  influenced  by  the  ideas  of  the  Book 
of  Deuteronomy.  The  other  group  (with  which  we  are 
not  further  concerned)  was  produced  at  a  much  later  date 
by  an  editor  or  editors  whose  standpoint,  broadly  speaking, 
was  that  of  the  Priestly  Code  \ 

The  aim  of  a  commentary  on  Kings  is,  of  course,  not 
to  rewrite  the  history  of  the  period  by  the  help  of  the 
material  which  the  book  supplies,  but  to  explain  the 
history  as  written  by  entering  as  fully  as  possible  into 
the  point  of  view  of  the  writers  concerned  in  its  produc- 
tion. And  since  the  Book  of  Kings  is  on  the  whole  the 
most  complete  and  typical  specimen  of  Hebrew  historical 
writing  which  the  O.  T.  contains,  it  is  desirable  to  com- 
mence with  some  consideration  of  (i)  the  conception  of 

*  Since  the  Deuteronomic  redaction  extends  over  all  the 
books  Joshua  to  Kings,  the  question  is  naturall}''  raised  whether 
they  may  not  originally  have  been  a  continuous  work,  which 
was  afterwards  split  up  into  four  volumes.  That  cannot  be 
proved  to  have  been  the  case  :  the  differences  which  appear 
in  the  redaction  are  too  considerable  to  be  readily  accounted 
for  by  the  assumption  that  they  were  all  edited  by  the  same 
hand.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  true  that  the  original  sources 
from  which  the  history  was  compiled  run  on  from  one  book 
into  another,  and  the  division  of  these  sources  is  somewhat 
artificial  and  arbitrary.  It  is  interesting  also  to  note  that  in 
the  Lucianic  recension  of  the  LXX  edited  b^'  Lagarde,  the 
partition  of  Second  and  Third  '  Kingdoms '  occurs  after  i  Kings 
ii.  ir  of  the  Hebrew  text  (see  Introductorj'  Note  to  i  K.  i,  ii.). 


INTRODUCTION  5 

history  to  which  the  book  owed  its  inception,  and  (2)  the 
literary  method  which  determined  its  form. 

I.  Writers  on  the  science  of  history  commonly  recog- 
nize three  distinct  types  of  historical  literature.  There 
are  first  ftarrative  or  descriptive  histories,  whose  object 
is  simply  to  communicate  or  commemorate  facts,  and 
where  the  writer  has  no  extraneous  interest  in  his  subject, 
but  seeks  merely  to  convey  to  his  readers  an  accurate 
and  vivid  impression  of  the  events  whose  importance  has 
excited  his  attention.  Then  there  is  the  large  and  influen- 
tial class  of  didactic  or  pragmatic  historians,  who  look  on 
history  as  a  storehouse  of  political  or  patriotic  or  ethical 
or  religious  lessons,  and  write  it  for  the  instruction  or 
edification  of  their  contemporaries.  Lastly,  there  is  the 
scientific  or  genetic  view  of  history,  which  aims  neither 
at  being  picturesque  nor  instructive,  but  seeks  to  exhibit 
events  in  their  true  relations  to  the  great  social  and 
spiritual  movements  to  which  they  owe  their  ultimate 
significance  ^  This  last  point  of  view  is  an  almost  ex- 
clusively modern  development,  and  can  hardly  be  said 
to  be  represented  in  antiquity  at  all.  But  the  other  two 
are  almost  equally  ancient,  and  go  back  to  near  the 
fountain-head  of  written  history.  Thus,  amongst  classical 
historians,  Herodotus,  the  '  father  of  history,'  is  generally 
regarded  as  a  representative  of  the  narrative  style,  and 
Thucydides  and  Tacitus  of  the  pragmatic'*.  And  of 
ancient  histories  in  general  it  may  be  said  that  they 
belong  to  one  or  other  of  these  two  types,  or  else  combine 
the  characteristics  of  both. 

To  which,  now,  of  these  two  classes  shall  we  assign  the 
Book  of  Kings  ?  At  first  sight  it  might  appear  impossible 
to   give  a  decided  answer.     The   book  contains  some 

1  See  Bernheim,  Lehrbuch  der  historischen  Meihode  (1894), 
p.  14  ff. 

^  The  term  pragniatike  historia  appears  to  have  been  first 
used  by  the  Greek  historian  Polybius,  in  the  second  century 
B.C.  (Bernheim,  1.  c). 


6  I   AND   II    KINGS 

purely  descriptive  passages,  like  the  story  of  Solomon 
and  Adonijah,  or  the  account  of  Jehu's  revolution,  which 
produce  the  impression  of  having  been  written  without 
any  motive  except  an  aesthetic  interest  in  the  thrilling 
series  of  events  which  they  narrate.  And  alongside  of 
these  we  might  place  the  numerous  annalistic  statements 
of  fact  which,  though  destitute  of  literary  charm,  are 
nevertheless  in  themselves  entirely  free  from  personal 
predilection  or  didactic  purpose.  On  the  other  hand 
there  are  many  sections,  such  as  the  stories  of  Elijah  and 
Elisha,  or  the  narrative  of  the  man  of  God  at  Beth-el  (in 
I  K.  xiii),  where  the  desire  to  enforce  a  religious  lesson  is 
unmistakably  manifest.  But  the  important  point  is  that 
if  we  consider  the  book  as  a  unity,  and  fix  our  attention 
on  its  persistent  and  characteristic  features,  we  cannot 
fail  to  observe  that  it  is  dominated  throughout  by  the 
aim  of  making  the  history  a  vehicle  of  moral  and  religious 
teaching.  Interwoven  with  the  narrative  is  a  perpetually 
recurring  strain  of  comment  and  application,  the  avowed 
purpose  of  which  is  to  point  out  the  great  lessons  which 
were  seen  to  be  exemplified  in  the  past  history  of  the 
people.  And  when  we  read  the  book  in  the  light  supplied 
by  these  comments,  we  find  that  nearly  eveiything  it 
contains  is  subservient  to  the  main  end  of  impressing 
these  lessons  on  the  minds  of  the  readers.  What  the 
lessons  are  we  shall  consider  more  particularly  when  we 
come  to  deal  with  the  standpoint  of  the  author  (p.  isfT.j. 
For  the  present  it  is  enough  to  recognize  that  the  Book 
of  Kings  is  essentially  a  didactic  history,  in  which,  how- 
ever, a  certain  element  of  purely  narrative  histor>'  has 
somehow  been  incorporated. 

2.  The  last  remark  leads  us  to  notice  a  no  less  im- 
portant distinction  in  respect  of  method  between  the 
historiography  of  the  O.  T.  and  that  with  which  we  are 
familiar  in  modern  times.  The  writing  of  history  on  a 
large  scale  necessarily  involves  the  use  of  written  authori- 
ties, which  are  the  historian's  sources  of  information  for 


INTRODUCTION  7 

events  beyond  his  own  personal  knowledge  ;  and  nothing 
is  more  characteristic  of  the  historical  practice  of  the 
O.  T.  than  the  manner  in  which  these  authorities  are 
dealt  with.  The  modern  history  is  a  free  and  original 
composition,  setting  forth  the  view  of  the  author  and  the 
conclusions  he  has  reached  after  careful  criticism  and 
comparison  of  all  the  sources  accessible  to  him.  The  \ 
Hebrew  historian,  on  the  other  hand,  was  as  a  rule  a/ 
compiler  rather  than  an  independent  author;  instead  of 
writing  a  new  account  of  the  course  of  events  as  it  shaped 
itself  in  his  mind,  he  simply  selected  from  the  documents  at 
his  disposal  passages  which  he  deemed  worthy  of  preserva- 
tion, and  then  transferred  these  extracts  bodily  to  his  own 
pages.  The  method  differs  entirely  from  the  mere  quota- 
tion of  authorities  by  modern  writers  ;  for  it  is  only  in  the 
rarest  instances  that  the  source  from  which  a  passage  is 
taken  is  indicated.  The  notions  of  literary  property  and 
plagiarism  had  not  then  been  thought  of;  and  writers 
who  advanced  no  pretensions  to  originality  for  themselves 
were  guilty  of  no  imposture  when  they  borrowed  without 
acknowledgement  from  their  predecessors.  The  evidence 
for  these  general  statements  is  drawn  from  the  historical 
literature  of  the  O.  T.  as  a  whole.  It  is  found  that  these 
writings  without  exception  have  originated  in  the  manner 
just  described  ;  and  a  gieat  part  of  the  labour  of  scholars 
is  directed  to  disentangling  the  various  elements  which 
enter  into  the  composition,  and  to  assigning  each  to  its 
proper  source.  Hence  we  may  reasonably  anticipate  that 
the  same  composite  structure  will  be  exhibited  in  the  Book 
of  Kings  ;  and  if  the  expectation  should  be  confirmed,  it 
will  furnish  a  complete  explanation  of  the  alternation  of 
descriptive  with  didactic  sections  which  was  spoken  of 
above.  For  though  it  is  certainly  possible  that  such  a 
combination  might  occur  in  the  work  of  a  single  historian, 
it  is  much  more  natural  to  suppose  that  it  arises  from  the 
collocation  of  different  documents,  some  of  them  written 
with  an  interest  different  from  the  compiler's,  and  display- 


8  I   AND    II    KINGS 

ing  a  power  of  graphic  and  artistic  narrative  rarely  found 
in  union  with  a  fixed  homiletic  bent  of  mind. 

These  observations  will  perhaps  suffice  to  indicate  the 
general  character  of  the  work  with  which  we  have  to  dea^ 
At  the  same  time  they  determine  the  lines  on  which  the 
exposition  of  the  book  must  proceed,  and  guide  us  in 
forming  an  estimate  of  its  permanent  historical  and  re- 
ligious value. 

First  of  all,  bearing  in  mind  the  didactic  and  hortatory 
aim  of  the  writing,  we  shall  not  expect  it  to  give  a  com- 
plete view  of  the  natural  sequence  of  events.  We  shall 
not  be  surprised  if  prominence  is  given  to  occurrences  of 
religious  importance,  to  the  neglect  of  matters  which 
though  interesting  in  themselves  belonged  more  to  the 
sphere  of  secular  history.  Still  less  need  we  look  for  an 
analysis  of  the  subtle  play  of  social  and  political  forces 
which  lay  behind  the  phenomena,  and  which  it  would  be 
the  province  of  a  modern  historical  investigator  to  explore. 
The  Hebrew  mind  traced  events  directly  to  the  agency 
of  Providence,  and  attributed  to  each  event  an  indepen- 
dent significance  as  an  expression  of  the  Divine  will.  Each, 
therefore,  conveyed  its  own  lesson  ;  and  nothing  was  lost 
by  isolating  it  from  its  connexion  with  other  events, 
provided  it  had  a  meaning  unmistakable  enough  to  be 
read  by  its  own  light.  Although  this  conception  of 
history  may  not  satisfy  all  the  demands  of  the  intellect, 
it  would  be  an  utter  mistake  to  suppose  that  it  is  vicious 
in  principle,  or  destructive  of  the  sense  of  historic  truth. 
It  is  easy  to  understand  the  discredit  into  which  the 
pragmatic  method  in  history  has  fallen;  but  none  the 
less  it  represents  a  point  of  view  which  cannot  be 
rendered  obsolete  by  any  improvement  in  the  conception 
of  human  development.  That  the  past  experience  of 
a  people  as  recorded  in  its  national  history  is  fitted  to 
yield  valuable  guidance  for  the  present  and  the  future 
is  a  conviction  too  well  established  to  be  overthrown ; 
and  therefore,  when  the  scientific  historian  has  said  his 


INTRODUCTION  9 

last  word,  there  will  always  be  room  for  a  writer  of  a 
dififerent  cast  of  mind  to  point  out  the  lessons  which  the 
present  may  learn  from  the  past.  Most  of  all  is  such  a 
treatment  justified  when  the  point  of  view  is  religious. 
The  investigation  of  secondary  causes,  whether  in  nature 
or  in  history,  does  not  exclude  the  belief  in  a  Divine 
purpose  unfolding  itself  through  the  manifold  processes 
of  the  finite  universe ;  and  in  the  great  crises  of  universal 
history  the  mind  instinctively  recognizes  the  presence 
and  action  of  the  Almighty.  Who  will  say  that  the 
significance  of  an  event  like  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
is  not  more  truly  apprehended  by  the  religious  writer  of 
the  Book  of  Kings  than  by  one  who  should  regard  it 
merely  as  an  incidental  result  of  the  advance  of  mankind 
to  a  higher  material  civilization  ? 

In  the  second  place,  we  must  not  overlook  the  immense 
advantages  of  the  Hebrew  practice  of  incorporating  earlier 
sources  in  the  text.  In  default  of  the  modern  devices 
of  footnotes  and  references  to  extant  documents,  it  is 
difficult  to  conceive  any  method  which  could  better  serve 
the  ends  of  genuine  historical  study.  The  authorities 
thus  imbedded  in  the  narrative  are  necessarily  nearer  to 
the  events  than  the  author  of  the  book ;  and  in  certain 
cases  we  can  be  sure  that  they  reflect  the  impressions 
of  first-hand  contemporary  observers.  To  disentangle 
these  original  sources  is  no  doubt  a  laborious  and 
delicate  operation ;  but  in  so  far  as  it  is  accomplished, 
it  puts  us  in  possession  of  independent  points  of  view, 
which  not  unfrequently  throw  light  on  matters  passed  over 
in  silence  by  the  editors  of  the  book.  We  are  thus 
enabled  in  some  degree  to  trace  the  growth  of  religious 
ideas  from  the  various  stages  at  which  the  several  docu- 
ments were  written  down  to  the  age  of  the  latest  editor 
who  has  left  distinguishable  marks  of  his  individuality  in 
his  work. 

Such,  then,  are  the  conditions  of  study  imposed  on  us 
by  the  nature  and  composition  of  this  instructive  portion 


lo  I    AND    II    KINGS 

of  Scripture.  The  O.  T.  appeals  to  the  religious  mind  in 
two  ways :  first  as  a  direct  word  of  God  to  the  soul,  and 
secondly  as  the  record  of  a  historic  revelation,  given  to 
men  in  the  past,  of  the  Divine  character  and  purpose. 
The  two  can  never  be  wholly  dissociated ;  but  it  is 
certainly  the  case  that  they  appear  with  varying  emphasis 
in  different  sections  of  the  sacred  literature.  In  the 
Psalms  and  the  prophetic  writings,  for  example,  the  note 
of  inward  religion  is  so  direct  and  powerful  that,  without 
much  acquaintance  with  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
words  were  written,  the  devout  reader  may  hear  the  voice 
of  the  living  God  speaking  plainly  to  his  heart  and 
conscience,  and  be  lifted  into  true  and  saving  fellowship 
with  Him.  Even  there,  it  is  true,  half  the  profit  of  the 
message  will  be  missed,  unless  the  words  be  read  in  the 
light  of  the  conditions  which  called  them  forth.  But  in 
those  parts  of  the  Scriptu -e  to  which  the  Book  of  Kings 
belongs  there  is  obviously  less  of  this  immediate  and 
self-evidencing  appeal  to  the  heart.  On  the  other  hand, 
they  are  of  inestimable  value  as  a  record  of  the  process 
by  w^hich  the  revelation  came  to  be,  and  of  the  facts  in 
which  inspired  men  recognized  the  presence  of  God  in 
their  national  life.  And  here  the  historical  method  of 
study  is  almost  indispensable  to  any  profitable  use  of 
the  writings.  We  need  to  realize,  more  fully  than  we 
have  yet  learned  to  do,  that  God  was  present  in  the 
history  itself,  not  merely  in  the  words  in  which  the 
history  is  recorded,  or  in  any  theory  of  the  history  which 
may  be  current  in  a  particular  age.  The  nearer,  therefore, 
we  can  come  to  the  actual  facts— the  solid  unimpeachable 
realities— of  Israel's  history,  the  better  we  shall  understand 
the  Divine  training  of  that  chosen  race  to  be  the  bearers 
of  revelation  to  mankind. 

II.   The  Framework  of  Kings. 
From    what  we    have    now    learned    of  the  general 
character  and  structure  of  Kings  it  is  obvious  that  the 


INTRODUCTION  ii 

first  step  in  the  analysis  of  the  book  must  be  to  trace 
the  process  by  which  it  was  first  thrown  into  something 
Hke  its  present  shape.  It  so  happens  that  this  inquiry 
is  facihtated  by  a  very  clear  indication  of  editorial  activity, 
viz.  the  recurrence  of  a  regular  series  of  notices  by  which 
the  different  reigns  are  introduced  and  concluded.  This 
set  of  formulas  constitutes  a  sort  of  framework,  by  which 
the  narrative  is  at  once  held  together  and  at  the  same 
time  divided  into  definite  compartments ;  and  its  structure 
is  so  uniform  as  to  make  it  practically  certain  that  the 
scheme  was  carried  through  by  a  single  writer.  It  will 
appear  afterwards  that  the  author  of  the  '  framework ' 
was  the  first  to  arrange  the  material  in  its  present  order, 
and  is  therefore  entitled  to  be  regarded  as  the  main 
compiler  of  the  Book  of  Kings  ^ 

It  is  worth  while  to  look  somewhat  closely  at  the 
structure  of  this  framework.  The  complete  Introductory 
Formula  for  the  kings  of  Judah  embraces  the  following 
items:  (a)  the  date  of  accession  according  to  the  year 
of  the  contemporary  king  of  Israel  (w^hich  we  shall  call 
for  brevity  the  Synch7'07iisni) ;  {b)  the  age  of  the  king  at 
his  accession ;  [c]  the  duration  of  the  reign ;  {d)  the 
name  of  the  queen-mother;  {e)  a  judgement  on  the 
religious  character  of  the  reign.  The  corresponding 
formula  for  the  kings  of  Israel  is  similar  in  form  as 
regards  «,  c,  and  e\  but  is  simplified  by  the  omission 
of  b  (the  age  of  accession),  and  d  (the  name  of  the  queen- 
mother).  The  Concluding  Formulas  contain  {a)  a  refer- 
ence to  the  proximate  source  (see  p.  23)  from  which  the 
author  has  drawn  some  of  his  materials  ;  {b)  a  notice 
of  the  king's  death  and  burial ;  and  [c)  the  name  of  his 
successor.  With  the  exception  of  the  Synchronisms, 
which  were  possible  only  for  the  period  of  the  divided 
monarchy,  the  framework  is  applied  consistently  and  with 

^  There  are  several  facts,  however,  which  suggest  that  the 
'  framework '  in  a  somewhat  simpler  form  was  found  in  the 
proximate  sources  employed  by  the  compiler. 


12  I   AND   II    KINGS 

few  intermissions  to  the  whole  history,  from  the  death 
of  David  (i  K.  ii.  lo)  to  the  accession  of  Zedekiah,  the  last 
king  of  Judah  (2  K.  xxiv.  i8f.)^  The  entire  absence  of 
either  formula  is  extremely  rare.  And  although  fragments 
from  the  annals  are  frequently  taken  up  into  the  frame- 
work, there  is  only  one  case  (or  at  most  two)  where  any 
considerable  part  of  the  narrative  has  been  allowed,  as 
it  were,  to  slip  out  of  the  framework  altogether ;  i.  e.  to 
appear  between  the  conclusion  of  one  reign  and  the 
introduction  of  the  next :  2  K.  ii  (xiii.  14-25).  How  far 
these  irregularities  are  designed,  and  how  far  they  are  due 
to  alterations  of  the  text,  is  a  question  that  has  to  be 
considered  for  each  case  separately  ^. 

Now,  even  in  the  bare  and  formal  statements  of  the 
framework  there  are  several  indications  that  its  author 
is  the  person  mainly  responsible  for  the  selection  and 
disposition  of  the  historical  material  of  which  the  book 
is  composed,  (i)  The  chronology  of  the  framework 
furnishes  the  key  to  the  somewhat  peculiar  arrangement 
of  the  parallel  histories  of  Israel  and  Judah.  The  method 
adopted  is  to  treat  the  affairs  of  each  kingdom  indepen- 
dently, and  carry  forward  the  narrative  till  it  reaches  the 
end  of  a  reign  in  which  a  change  of  sovereign  has  occurred 

*  A  feeble  imitation  of  the  framework  appears  also  in  the 
books  of  Samuel  (i  Sam.  xiii.  i  ;  2  Sam.  ii.  10,  11  ;  v.  4,  5  . 
These  have  all  the  appearance  of  an  attempt  to  extend  the 
chronological  system  of  Kings  backwards  to  the  earlier  history. 

^  For  minor  variations  (which  are  numerous  but  uin'mpor- 
tant;,  displacements,  &c.,  the  reader  must  be  referred  to  the 
Text  (where  the  framework  is  marked  by  the  letter  D)  and 
the  Notes.  The  Introduction  is  nowhere  entirely  omitted 
except  for  the  reigns  of  Jeroboam  I,  Athaliah,  and  Jehu  :  the 
Conclusion  only  in  the  cases  of  Jehoram  of  Israel,  Ahaziah  of 
Judah,  Athaliah,  Hoshea,  Jehoahaz  of  Judah,  Jehoiachin,  and 
Zedekiah.  In  all  these  instances  it  is  possible  to  assign 
plausible  reasons  for  the  omission  ;  but  it  still  remains  doubtful 
whether  the  cases  of  Jehu,  Jehoram,  and  Ahaziah  are  not 
rather  to  be  explained  by  subsequent  disturbances  of  the  text. 
(Sec  the  Notes  ad  he.) 


INTRODUCTION  13 

in  the  sister  kingdom.  Then  the  records  of  the  other 
monarchy  are  taken  up,  and  continued  in  Hke  manner, 
till  they  have  gone  beyond  the  date  at  which  the  first 
series  stopped.  Such  an  arrangement  is  obviously  im- 
possible without  the  control  of  a  systematic  chronology  ; 
and  since  the  order  corresponds  perfectly  with  the  data 
of  the  framework  there  is  a  presumption  that  both 
proceed  from  the  same  author.  (2)  The  manner  in  which 
the  writer  of  the  framework  refers  to  written  documents 
for  information  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  book 
strongly  suggests  that  he  has  exercised  his  personal 
judgement  as  to  the  matters  that  ought  to  be  embodied 
in  the  history.  (3)  But  the  most  important  point  is  that 
in  the  religious  judgements  of  the  introductory  formulas 
the  writer  reveals  a  definite  theory  or  point  of  view, 
which  could  hardly  fail  to  exert  an  influence  on  the 
historical  presentation  as  a  whole. 

These  judgements  involve  several  religious  principles : 
e.g.  the  duty  of  whole-hearted  loyalty  to  Yahweh  and 
the  sinfulness  of  idolatry  in  all  its  varied  forms  and 
degrees.  But  their  most  distinctive  feature  is  the  idea 
of  the  exclusive  sanctity  of  the  Temple  in  Jerusalem  and 
the  illegitimacy  of  all  sacrificial  worship  of  Yahweh  at 
other  shrines.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  constant 
complaint  that  'the  high-places  were  not  taken  away' 
even  by  the  most  pious  sovereigns  of  Judah  (except 
Hezekiah  and  Josiah) '.  The  same  principle  underlies 
the  uniformly  unfavourable  verdict  on  the  kings  of 
Ephraim  ;  for  it  is  expressly  pointed  out  in  i  K.  xii.  27  that 
the  '  sin  of  Jeroboam  '—the  erection  of  the  golden  calves 
—was  a  deliberate  defiance  of  the  authority  of  the  central 
sanctuary  at  Jerusalem.  Now  this  idea  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  public  religion  of  Israel  by  the  promul- 
gation of  the  law  of  Deuteronomy  in  the  reign  of  Josiah  (see 

^  The  connexion  is  seen  especially  from  i  K.  iii.  2,  where  it  is 
intimated  that  the  sacrifices  of  the  high-places  were  at  any  rate 
a  venial  offence  so  long  as  no  central  Temple  existed. 


14  I   AND    II    KINGS 

on  2  K.  x\ii  f.)  ;  and  indeed  the  framework  itself  testifies 
that  it  had  been  ignored  by  every  ruler  down  to  that  time, 
with  the  solitary  exception  of  Hezekiah  (see  on  2  K.  xviii.  4). 
We  thus  learn  that  the  author  of  the  framework  must 
have  written  after  the  publication  of  the  Deuteronomic 
Law,  and  that  his  mind  was  so  imbued  with  its  teaching 
that  he  applied  its  central  idea  retrospectively  as  a  measure 
of  the  religious  condition  of  the  people  from  the  time  when 
the  Temple  was  built.  It  might  almost  be  anticipated  that 
a  writer  holding  such  a  view  of  the  inner  significance  of 
Israel's  history  would  leave  other  and  clearer  traces  of 
his  individuality  on  the  book. 

III.   The  Compiler  and  his  Standpoint. 

We  are  therefore  led  to  examine  whether,  apart  from 
the  framework,  the  Book  of  Kings  contains  any  expression 
of  what  may  be  called  the  Deuteronomic  standpoint. 
And  the  answer  to  that  question  is  not  difficult.  Through- 
out the  book  we  find  a  number  of  passages,  easily  separable 
from  their  context,  which  are  strongly  coloured  not  only 
by  the  spirit  and  ideas,  but  also  by  the  language  of  the 
Book  of  Deuteronomy.  Associated  and  often  intermingled 
with  the  Deuteronomic  phrases  we  find  also  a  set  of  stereo- 
typed expressions,  figures  of  speech,  &c.,  which,  though 
not  found  in  Deuteronomy  itself,  are  characteristic  of  the 
style  and  vocabulary  of  the  particular  writer  who  inserted 
the  Deuteronomic  passages  in  Kings  ^;  so  that  in  most 
cases  it  is  an  easy  task  to  distinguish  his  work  from  all 
other  elements  of  the  composition.  The  sections  thus 
isolated  are  marked  in  the  text  by  the  letter  D,  and 
will  be  seen  to  be  nearly  all  of  the  nature  of  comments 
designed  to  elucidate  and  enforce  t'ne  religious  lessons  of 
the  histor)\  It  cannot  of  course  be  absolutely  proved 
that  they  are  from  the  same  hand  as  the  framework ;  but 

'  Lists  of  both  sets  of  phrases  are  given  by  Driver,  IntrodHC- 
Won",  p.  200  ff.,  and  Burney,  in  DB,  ii.  p.  859  ff. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

since  both  represent  an  identical  standpoint,  and  the 
character  of  each  is  essentially  editorial,  it  is  at  least 
a  reasonable  assumption  that  they  are  the  work  of  the 
same  writer.  If  this  be  the  case,  the  proof  that  the 
author  of  the  framework  was  also  the  compiler  of  the 
book  becomes  almost  irresistible.  For,  as  the  framework 
constitutes  the  formal  unity  of  the  history,  so  the  Deutero- 
nomic  passages  impart  to  it  a  unity  of  spirit  and  purpose ; 
and  if  both  are  contributed  by  the  same  writer  we  need 
not  hesitate  to  speak  of  him  as  the  real  author  of  the 
Book  of  Kings. 

It  was  remarked  above  (p.  6)  that  the  author  of 
Kings,  whoever  he  might  prove  to  be,  belonged  to  the 
class  of  didactic  historians.  This  estimate  is  now  fully 
confirmed  both  by  a  survey  of  the  contents  of  the  book 
and  by  an  examination  of  the  Deuteronomic  passages 
which  we  assign  to  the  compiler.  From  the  former  we 
learn  that  he  had  little  interest  in  political  affairs  as  such 
— important  reigns  like  those  of  Omri  and  Jeroboam  II 
being  dismissed  with  a  few  meagre  notices,  while  events 
of  an  ecclesiastical  character,  such  as  the  building  or 
repair  of  the  Temple,  or  the  finding  of  the  Law,  are 
described  at  great  length.  Thus  the  mere  selection  of 
material,  apart  from  his  own  comment  and  reflection, 
shows  that  the  writer's  dominant  interest  was  religious. 
When  we  turn  to  the  passages  which  form  his  individual 
contribution  to  the  work  we  are  enabled  to  define  his 
position  and  purpose  more  exactly.  The  general  principle 
which  he  desires  to  enforce  is  clearly  expressed  in  such 
places  as  i  K.  ii.  2-4  (David's  charge  to  Solomon),  ix.  1-9 
(God's  second  appearance  to  Solomon),  2  K.  xvii.  7-23 
(review  of  the  history  of  the  northern  kingdom),  &c.  It 
is,  in  one  word,  the  principle  of  retribution— the  truth  that 
fidelity  to  Yahweh  is  rewarded  by  national  prosperity, 
and  unfaithfulness  punished  by  national  misfortune.  The 
standard  of  fidelity  is,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Book  of 
Deuteronomy ;  and  the  writer's  purpose  is  to  show  how 


1 6  I    AND    TI    KINGS 

the  ideas  inculcated  in  that  book  have  been  those 
which  moulded  the  destinies  of  the  nation  throughout  its 
past  history.  The  Deuteronomic  ideas  most  insisted  on 
(besides  the  doctrine  of  retribution)  are :  (a)  the  exclusive 
right  of  Yahweh,  based  on  His  choice  of  Israel  as  His 
special  possession,  to  the  whole-hearted  allegiance  and 
worship  of  His  people;  (d)  the  necessity  of  maintaining 
that  worship  in  its  purity,  uncontaminated  by  heathen 
elements,  whether  in  the  shape  of  material  representations 
of  Yahweh  or  the  association  of  false  gods  with  His 
service ;  (c)  the  restriction  of  sacrificial  worship  to  the 
central  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem.  The  Divine  element  in 
the  history  is  symbolized  by  the  three  great  theocratic 
institutions  of  the  Temple,  the  Davidic  dynasty,  and 
Prophecy,  each  of  which  represents  an  aspect  of  Yahweh's 
gracious  presence  with  Israel,  and  affords  an  external 
test  of  the  people's  attitude  towards  Him.  In  the  neglect 
or  abuse  of  these  institutions  the  writer  finds  a  measure 
of  the  nation's  declension  from  the  religious  ideal  by 
which  alone  its  true  welfare  was  secured. 

From  all  this  we  see  that  the  compiler  is  no  mere 
religious  antiquary,  dwelling  by  preference  on  those  matters 
in  which  he  was  specially  interested,  but  writes  with  the 
serious  moral  purpose  of  impressing  on  his  own  generation, 
and  those  which  might  follow,  the  lessons  which  the 
national  history  was  fitted  to  teach.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  show  in  detail  how  the  whole  historical  treatment  is 
made  subservient  to  the  illustration  of  the  principles  that 
have  just  been  stated;  a  few  salient  examples  may  suffice. 
The  glories  of  Solomon's  earlier  reign  are  explained  by  the 
fact  that  he  '  loved  Yahweh,  walking  in  the  statutes  of 
David'  (l  K.  iii.  3).  who  is  always  held  up  as  the  ideal  of 
kingly  virtue  and  piety.  The  misfortunes  of  his  later  years 
are  attributed  to  his  introduction  of  foreign  cults  in  his  old 
age  (xi.  9  ff.)  ;  and  here  the  compiler's  didactic  aim  has 
led  him  to  modify  somewhat  the  representation  of  the 
older  sources  on  which  his  narrative  is  based  (see  p.  174). 


INTRODUCTION  17 

The  secession  of  the  northern  tribes  is  the  judgement  on 
Solomon's  apostasy  (xi.  29  ff.) ;  but  at  the  same  time  it 
leads  to  a  permanent  contravention  of  the  Deuteronomic 
standard  in  the  establishment  of  the  calf- worship,  which 
is  always  emphasized  as  the  principal  cause  of  the  ruin 
of  the  northern  kingdom  (2  K.  xvii.  21-23).  Of  the  later 
Israelite  kings,  some— like  Ahab— sinned  more  heinously 
than  Jeroboam,  and  are  singled  out  for  special  reprobation 
(i  K.  xvi.  31,  xxi.  25  f.)  ;  and  any  striking  exemplifications 
of  the  law  of  retribution  in  their  case  are  carefully  recorded 
(2  K.  ix.  7  ff.,  25  f.,  36).  In  the  quieter  history  of  Judah  the 
chief  illustrations  of  the  writer's  religious  principle  are  the 
sin  of  Manasseh,  and  the  Deuteronomic  reformation  in 
the  reign  of  Josiah.  The  former  sealed  the  doom  of  Judah 
and  rendered  the  destruction  ot  the  state  inevitable  (2  K. 
xxi.  10  ff.,  xxiii.  26  ff.) ;  while  the  latter  availed  to  delay  the 
final  catastrophe  (xxii.  19  f.),  and  possibly  in  the  view  of  the 
original  editor  (see  below)  had  been  the  means  of  averting 
the  judgement  entirely  and  saving  the  existence  of  the 
nation. 

We  are  not  to  suppose,  however,  that  the  compiler  has 
yielded  to  the  besetting  temptation  of  the  pragmatic 
historian,  and  sacrificed  historical  truth  to  the  exigencies 
of  a  religious  theory.  There  may  be  a  few  cases  similar 
to  that  of  Solomon  mentioned  above,  where  the  material 
has  been  slightly  readjusted  in  order  more  effectively  to 
point  the  moral ;  but  over  against  these  we  find  many 
instances  where  facts  are  faithfully  recorded,  although  they 
are  at  variance  with  a  rigid  application  of  the  doctrine  of 
retribution.  The  verdict  of  approval  stands  against  the 
names  of  several  kings  whom  either  the  disasters  of  their 
reign  (Amaziah)  or  the  circumstances  of  their  death  (Asa, 
Jehoash,  Azariah,  Josiah)  must  have  seemed  to  mark  out 
as  objects  of  Divine  displeasure;  and  conversely,  the 
severe  condemnation  pronounced  on  Ahab  has  not  led  the 
compiler  to  suppress  the  testimony  of  older  authorities 
to  his   great  achievements  or  many  noble  traits  in  his 


i8  I   AND   II    KINGS 

character.  The  truth  is  that  the  lessons  which  the  writer 
seeks  to  inculcate  are  those  naturally  suggested  by  con- 
templation of  the  history  as  a  whole,  and  could  therefore 
be  conveyed  by  a  straightforward  narration  of  the  facts 
from  wliich  they  are  drawn.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
the  compiler  has  rejected  a  great  deal  of  valuable  material 
because  it  was  irrelevant  to  the  didactic  purpose  of  his 
work ;  but  with  regard  to  what  he  has  retained,  his  pro- 
cedure seems  to  be  that  of  an  honestj  fairminded,  and 
reliable  historian. 


IV.   The  Second  Redaction  and  Date 
OF  THE  Book. 

Thus  far  it  has  been  convenient  to  speak  of  the  com- 
pilation of  Kings  as  a  single  operation,  and  of  the  editorial 
comments  as  if  they  had  all  been  contributed  by  the  same 
writer.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Deuteronomic  sections 
are  so  far  homogeneous  that  the  general  conclusions  we 
have  reached  regarding  the  scope  and  character  of  the 
book  will  not  be  affected  by  any  subsequent  discover)'  of 
minor  differences  of  standpoint  which  may  be  revealed  by 
a  closer  inspection.  The  only  question,  indeed,  which 
gives  practical  importance  to  these  differences  is  the 
question  whether  the  passages  were  written  before  or  after 
the  fall  of  the  state.  That  the  book  was  not  finished  till 
the  latter  part  of  the  Exile  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  the 
narrative  is  brought  down  to  the  release  of  Jehoiachin  in 
the  year  561  ;  and  the  easiest  supposition  might  seem  to 
be  that  the  compiler  did  not  set  to  work  till  after  that 
event.  But  against  this  we  have  to  take  note  of  certain 
indications  that  the  main  work  of  compilation  was  executed 
by  a  writer  living  before  the  Exile.  Thus  the  hypothesis 
of  a  single  redaction  may  prove  to  be  insufficient ;  the 
pre-Exilic  book  will  have  been  continued  by  an  Exilic  or 
post-Exilic  editor ;  and  the  question  will  have  to  be 
considered   whether  this    second    editor    merely  added 


INTRODUCTION  19 

a  supplement  at  the  end,  or  whether  he  undertook  a  more 
or  less  comprehensive  revision  of  the  work  as  a  whole. 

The  most  obvious  trace  of  a  pre-Exilic  redaction  lies 
perhaps  in  the  use  of  the  phrase  *  unto  this  day,'  with 
reference  to  conditions  which  no  longer  obtained  after  the 
downfall  of  the  kingdom.  The  chief  instances  are  i  K.  viii. 
8,  ix.  21,  xii.  19  ;  2  K.  viii.  22,  xvi.  6  ;  in  all  of  which  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  phrase  is  either  quite  impossible  or  at  least 
extremely  unnatural  in  the  mouth  of  a  post-Exilic  writer. 
It  is  true  that  in  many  cases  the  expression  may  reason- 
ably be  assigned  to  the  older  documents  from  which  the 
compiler  drew  his  information  ;  and  it  has  been  suggested 
that  he  may  have  copied  the  words  mechanically,  heedless 
of  the  fact  that  they  were  no  longer  applicable  to  his  own 
time.  But  since  the  phrase  in  any  case  presupposes 
a  considerable  interval  between  the  events  and  the  time 
of  writing,  since  it  is  a  characteristic  phrase  of  the  com- 
piler (cf.  I K.  ix.  21,  X.  12 ;  2  K.  xvii.  23, 41),  and  since  it  often 
appears  not  (as  in  2  K.  x.  27)  in  long  extracts  from  earlier 
authorities,  but  in  brief  extracts  culled  from  official  annals, 
the  theory  of  editorial  inadvertence  is  not  very  probable ; 
and  we  are  fairly  entitled  to  assume  that  whether  the 
compiler  found  the  formula  in  his  sources  or  not,  he  at 
least  employed  it  intelligently  and  with  deliberate  reference 
to  his  own  point  of  view. 

But  this  evidence  does  not  stand  alone.  When  we  turn 
to  the  Deuteronomic  additions,  which  were  certainly 
composed  by  the  editor,  we  find  further  signs  that  some 
of  them  presuppose  the  continued  existence  of  the  Judaean 
state  and  monarchy,  (i)  In  several  passages  the  language 
seems  to  imply  that  the  Davidic  succession  in  Jerusalem 
had  never  been  interrupted  down  to  the  time  of  writing  (es- 
pecially I  K.  xi.  36,  XV.  4  ;  2  K.viii.  19).  It  is  quite  evident 
that  in  none  of  these  places  is  the  Exile  contemplated,  for 
the  full  promise  is  that  the  lamp  of  David's  house  is  to 
burn  continuously  and  continually  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  such 
language  would  be  altogether  unsuitable  if  the  writer  had 

C  2 


20  I   AND   II    KINGS 

only  in  view  the  resuscitation  of  the  monarchy  after  a  long 
captivity.  (2)  Of  a  precisely  similar  character  are  some 
of  the  references  to  the  Temple :  it  is  spoken  of  as  it  it 
were  still  standing  in  the  time  of  the  Deuteronomic  writer. 
'I'hus  in  I  K.  ix.  3  it  is  said  that  Yahweh  has  put  His  name 
there  for  ever,  and  that  His  eyes  and  His  heart  shall  be 
there  continually.  Again,  in  Solomon's  great  intercessory 
prayer  (1  K.  viii.  14-53— a  Deuteronomic  composition)  the 
leading  idea  is  that  the  Temple  will  endure  through  all 
future  generations  as  the  pledge  of  Yahweh's  presence  ; 
and  while  all  sorts  of  calamities  are  anticipated  as  possible 
consequences  of  Israel's  apostasy,  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple  itself  is  nowhere  hinted  at.  These  two  arguments 
have  considerable  force ;  but  it  must  be  admitted  that 
there  is  one  consideration  which  to  some  extent  weakens 
them,  and  leaves  the  conclusion  more  or  less  doubtful. 
It  might  be  urged  that  the  passages  in  question,  while 
undoubtedly  written  by  the  compiler,  express  a  Divine 
purpose  which  was  conditional  on  the  fidelity  of  the  kings 
and  people,  and  that  the  purpose  had  been  frustrated  by 
persistent  rebellion  on  the  part  of  both.  This  point  of 
view  is  unambiguously  expressed  in  i  K.  ix.  1-9,  where, 
alongside  of  a  promise  of  the  perpetuity  of  the  Temple 
and  the  dynasty,  there  is  a  direct  threat  of  exile  and 
the  overthrow  of  the  sanctuary  in  the  event  of  disobedience. 
For  this  reason  it  is  difficult  to  say  for  certain  whether  the 
writer  was  living  under  the  shadow  of  institutions  whose 
ruin  might  yet  be  averted,  or  whether  he  was  looking  back 
on  great  hopes  irretrievably  shattered  through  long-con- 
tinued violation  of  the  conditions  of  Yahweh's  favour.  But 
even  after  allowance  is  made  for  that  source  of  uncertainty 
there  remains  an  impression  that,  if  the  Temple  and  the 
monarchy  had  actually  ceased  to  be,  the  fact  would  have 
influenced  the  representation  more  decidedly  than  is  the 
case  in  the  passages  considered.  And  that  impression  is 
strengthened  by  contrast  with  the  terms  in  which  the 
respite  of  the  northern  kingdom  is  spoken  of  in  2  K.  xiii. 


INTRODUCTION  21 

23  :  '  Yahweh  was  gracious  unto  them  .  .  .  because  of  His 
covenant  .  .  .  neither  cast  He  them  from  His  presence  as 
yet'     (But  see  the  note  on  the  verse.) 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  Deuteronomic  sections 
where  the  Exilic  or  post-Exilic  point  of  view  is  revealed 
without  ambiguity.  The  clearest  examples  are  perhaps  ' 
2  K.  xvii.  iQf.  {where  the  Exile  is  referred  to  as  an  accom- 
plished fact),  and  xxi.  10-15,  xxiii.  26  f.,  xxiv.  2-4,  20 
(where  it  is  irrevocably  decreed  by  Yahwehj.  Less  decisive 
are  i  K.  ix.  7-9 ;  2  K.  xxii.  15-20.  Now  these  are  short 
passages  ;  and  it  is  not  immediately  apparent  whether 
they  point  to  a  systematic  revision  of  the  book  or  are  of 
the  nature  of  isolated  post-redactional  insertions.  But 
when  the  Deuteronomic  sections  are  re-examined  in  the 
light  supplied  by  the  existence  of  undoubtedly  post-Exilic 
elements,  it  is  found  that  a  number  of  passages  can  be 
more  naturally  assigned  to  this  post-Exilic  writer  than  to 
the  pre-Exilic  compiler  of  Kings  \  It  follows  that  the  first 
of  the  two  alternatives  best  expresses  the  true  state  of  the 
case ;  the  post-Exilic  Deuteronomic  additions  are  due  to 
a  second  editor^  who  not  only  provided  the  conclusion  of 
the  narrative  as  it  stands,  but  also  contributed  a  good  deal 
of  the  hortatory  matter  in  which  the  book  abounds^. 

The  conclusions  to  which  we  are  brought  are  therefore 
as  follows.  The  hypothesis  of  a  single  (post-Exilic)  com- 
pilation, though  not  absolutely  inadmissible,  is  difificult  to 
reconcile  with  the  indications  noted  of  a  pre-Exilic  point 
of  view.  It  possesses  undoubtedly  this  great  attraction, 
that  the  fall  of  the  state  furnished  a  more  natural  oppor- 
tunity and  motive  for  a  comprehensive  treatment  of  the 
national  history  than  any  that  can  be  suggested  in  the 

^  The  discussion  of  the  literary  questions  involved  in  this 
distinction  is  reserved  for  the  Notes.  In  the  Text  the  passages 
assigned  to  the  3'ounger  editor,  where  it  has  been  thought 
advisable  to  distinguish  them,  are  marked  by  the  letter  D^. 

2  It  is  commonly  held  that  he  likewise  supplied  the  Syn- 
chronisms of  the  framework  ;  but  see  below,  p.  39. 


22  I    AND    II    KINGS 

period  immediately  preceding  that  catastrophe  (Ktinig, 
Einleittnig,  p.  267  f.).  But  the  hterary  evidence  seems 
too  strong  to  be  overruled  by  that  consideration  ;  and  the 
balance  of  probability  is  in  favour  of  the  view  that  the 
history  was  originally  compiled  before  the  Exile,  but  was 
afterwards  supplemented  and  to  some  extent  revised  by 
a  younger  editor  who  lived  during  or  after  the  Exile.  The 
two  redactors  belonged  to  the  same  Deuteronomic  school 
of  historians,  and  are  so  much  alike  in  their  principles  and 
their  cast  of  thought  that  it  is  not  always  possible  to 
assign  an  editorial  insertion  with  confidence  to  the  one 
rather  than  to  the  other. 

To  what  point  of  the  narrative  the  first  compiler  brought 
down  his  work  cannot  be  definitely  determined.  A 
natural  period  for  such  a  histoiy  to  be  written  would  be 
the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Josiah,  when  the  great 
reformation  of  religion  might  seem  to  have  secured  a 
return  of  temporal  prosperity  to  the  state  ;  and  an  ap- 
propriate conclusion  might  be  found  in  2  K.  xxiii.  25.  But 
the  last  reference  to  the  Chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah 
(see  p.  25)  does  not  occur  till  xxiv.  5  ;  and  if  that  work, 
which  has  been  the  compiler's  principal  authority  for  the 
southern  history  (see  p.  23),  was  not  finished  till  after  the 
death  of  Jehoiakim,  the  compiler's  own  date  must  be  still 
later.  This  brings  us  into  the  reign  of  Zedekiah  ;  so  that 
unless  xxiv.  5  be  the  mistaken  repetition  of  a  stereotyped 
formula  by  a  copyist,  the  book  must  have  been  written  on 
the  very  eve  of  the  final  captivity,  when  all  hope  of  a 
favourable  turn  in  the  fortunes  of  the  nation  must  have 
passed  away.  The  continuation  of  the  framework  in  the 
appendix  would  not  of  itself  present  any  difficulty,  since 
the  younger  editor  would  naturally  adopt  the  plan  laid 
down  by  his  predecessor. 

The  precise  date  of  the  second  redactor  is  also  uncertain ; 
but  it  can  be  pretty  securely  fixed  within  narrow  limits. 
The  superior  limit  is,  of  course,  the  liberation  of  Jehoiachin 
from  his  Babylonian  prison  in  561  (2  K.  xxv.  27  ff.)  :  the 


INTRODUCTION  23 

language  suggests  further  that  his  death  had  already  taken 
place  ('  until  the  day  of  his  death,'  Jer.  Hi.  34).  On  the 
other  hand,  the  prominence  given  to  this  incident  seems  i 
to  show  that  it  was  comparatively  recent  at  the  time  of  i 
writing ;  and  we  may  place  the  second  redaction  in  the 
quarter  of  a  century  between  561  and  the  return  from 
captivity  (536). 

V.  The  Sources. 

I.  Proximate  Sources.  That  the  Book  of  Kings  is 
a  compilation  from  written  documents  is  virtually  ac- 
knowledged in  the  habitual  reference  to  certain  authorities 
which  we  have  seen  to  be  an  all  but  constant  feature  of 
the  framework.  It  is  true  that  these  works  are  only 
referred  to  for  information  which  the  compiler  has  not 
included  in  his  own  history;  but  it  will  not  be  deemed 
an  extravagant  speculation  if  we  assume  that  he  was  also 
indebted  to  them  for  some  of  the  material  which  he  did 
think  worth  preserving.  It  is  therefore  of  some  conse- 
quence to  ascertain  what  the  nature  of  these  compositions 
may  have  been.  They  are  only  three  in  number :  (i)  The 
Book  of  the  Acts  of  Solomon  (l  K.  xi.  41) ;  (2)  The  Book 
of  the  Chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  (cited  for  all  the 
reigns  except  Jehoram  and  Hoshea) ;  and  (3)  The  Book 
of  the  Chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  (for  all  except 
Ahaziah,  Athaliah,  Jehoahaz,  Jehoiachin,  and  Zedekiah). 

The  Hebrew  expression  rendered  '  Book  of  the  Chron- 
icles'  {sepher  dibri  hayydmwi,  lit.  'book  of  the  affairs 
of  the  days ')  is  the  technical  term  for  official  records 
which  were  kept  in  the  state  archives  for  the  purpose  of 
commemorating  important  political  events  (Esther  ii.  23, 
vi.  I,  x.  2 ;  Neh.  xii.  23  ;  i  Chron.  xxvii.  24).  Hence  we 
may  surmise  that  the  Books  of  the  Chronicles  of  Israel 
and  Judah  have  something  to  do  with  the  official  annals 
of  these  two  kingdoms  \     That  such  annals  were  kept, 

^  The  distinction  drawn  by  Wellhausen  and  Kuenen  between 


24  I   AND    II    KINGS 

there  is  every  reason  to  believe :  we  read  frequently  (2  Sam. 
viii.  16,  XX.  24;  I  K.  iv.  3  ;  2  K.  xviii.  18,  37;  2  Chron. 
xxxiv.  8)  of  a  minister  called  the  viazkir  (lit.  'remem- 
brancer'), whose  duty  it  would  naturally  be  to  record 
public  events  affecting  the  policy  of  the  state.  And  this 
view  of  the  nature  of  the  two  documents  is  so  far  borne 
out  by  the  few  hints  we  get  as  to  their  contents.  We  see 
that  they  were  mainly  if  not  exclusively  of  a  political 
character,  containing  much  valuable  information  regarding 
the  doings  of  the  several  Icings^.  This,  indeed,  appears 
to  have  been  the  chief  difference  between  these  older 
histories  and  our  present  Book  of  Kings,  and  at  once 
suggests  a  reason  why  the  compiler  did  not  avail  himself 
more  freely  of  their  material.  The  only  question  now 
is  whether  the  compiler's  references  are  to  the  royal 
annals  themselves,  or  to  histories  of  a  more  popular 
character  based  on  the  annals  and  incorporating  much 
of  their   contents.     To   the  former  view  there   are  two 

'chronicles'  and  'book  o/"  chronicles* — as  if  the  latter  were 
a  literary  composition  based  on  the  official  documents— appears 
to  be  fallacious.  The  word  sepher  (book)  is  a  regular  component 
of  the  title  of  the  annals  themselves,  as  may  be  seen  from 
the  passages  cited  above.  In  i  Chron.  xxvii.  24,  the  text 
requires  amendment. 

^  For  example  :  'all  that  he  did,'  'all  his  might,'  'how  he 
warred,'  &c, ;  the  conspiracies  of  Zimri  and  Shallum  ;  the 
fortifications  of  Asa  and  Ahab  ;  Ahab's  ivory  palace  ;  Hezekiah's 
water-supply  ;  &c.,  &c.  The  single  exception  to  the  political 
character  of  the  references  is  the  'sin'  of  Manasseh  (2  K.  xxi. 
17),  and  even  that  exception  is  more  apparent  than  real.  For 
although  in  a  state  document  an  act  of  the  king  would  not  be 
branded  as  a  '  sin,*  it  might  very  well  have  been  recorded 
there  as  an  achievement  to  the  king's  credit ;  while  the 
compiler's  repugnance  led  him  to  stigmatize  it  briefly  as  a  'sin.' 
To  the  view  here  taken  of  the  nature  of  these  notices  it  has 
been  objected  that  no  king  would  be  likely  to  describe  himself 
as  a  conspirator  in  his  official  annals.  But,  as  Cornill  points 
out,  the  only  conspiracies  for  which  the  Chronicles  are  cited  as 
authorities  are  those  of  Zimri  and  Shallum,  both  of  whom 
reigned  a  verj'  short  time,  and  would  quite  probably  be  referred 
to  as  conspirators  in  the  annals  of  their  successors. 


INTRODUCTION  25 

objections.  In  the  first  place,  the  official  annals  were  not 
public  property,  and  therefore  could  not  have  been  con- 
sulted by  any  reader  desirous  of  further  information.  In 
the  second  place,  while  the  compiler  might  conceivably 
have  had  access  to  the  annals  of  Judah,  he  could  not 
possibly  have  seen,  those  of  Israel,  which  must  have 
perished  long  before  his  time.  The  books  of  Chronicles 
must,  therefore,  have  been  in  circulation  as  independent 
works  ;  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  were  not 
mere  transcripts  of  the  official  records,  but  literary  pro- 
ductions of  a  more  general  kind,  though  based  on  the 
information  supplied  by  the  annals  \ 

The  northern  Chronicle  must  have  covered  the  whole 
history  of  the  kingdom  of  Ephraim,  and  probably  con- 
tained in  addition  the  account  of  its  fall,  and  the  re- 
peopling  of  the  land  by  Assyrian  colonists  {2  K.  xvii.  24  ffi). 
The  Judaean  Chronicle  came  down  to  the  death  of 
Jehoiakim  (p.  22)  ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  must  have 
been  composed  before  the  Exile. 

The  Book  of  the  Acts  of  Solomon  differs  somewhat  in 
its  title  from  the  other  two,  and  may  have  been  a  work 
of  a  different  character.  It  is  probable  that  like  them  it 
was  based  on  the  annals  of  the  reign ;  but  whether  its 
subsequent  expansion  followed  on  similar  lines  it  is  im- 
possible to  say :  it  depends  on  how  much  of  the  present 
account  of  Solomon's  reign  was  taken  from  this  particular 
document.  The  criticism  of  that  section  of  the  history  is 
so  peculiar  that  further  consideration  of  this  point  may  be 
deferred  to  the  Introductory  Notes  to  i  K.  iii-xi  (p.  81  f.). 

It  only  remains  to  be  said  that  these  three  documents 

^  On  this  view  of  the  two  books  there  seems  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  be  regarded  as  the  source  of  some 
narratives  which,  while  too  diffuse  to  have  been  taken  straight 
from  the  annals,  yet  have  the  appearance  of  being  based  on 
official  documents  (2  K.  xi,  xii  ;  xvi.  10  ff. ;  xxii,  xxiii).  It  should 
be  added  that  there  is  some  evidence  that  the  Chronicles 
themselves  were  composite  works,,  in  which  different  sources 
were  amalgamated  (see  on  i  K.  xi.  i4ff.  ;  2  K.  xi). 


26  I    AND    II    KINGS 

are  always  referred  to  as  separate  works ;  and  there  are 
no  good  grounds  for  the  opinion  held  by  some  that  before 
the  time  of  the  compiler  they  had  been  united  in  a  single 
pre-Deuteronomic  Book  of  Kings. 

2.  Primary  Sources.  The  historical  matter  of  the  Book 
of  Kings  (as  distinguished  from  the  editorial  framework 
and  commentary)  is  of  two  kinds  :  (l)  brief  and  often 
fragmentary  extracts  from  official  annals  ;  and  (2)  lengthy 
continuous  narratives,  sometimes  full  of  picturesque  detail, 
and  displaying  literary  power  of  a  high  order.  Of  the 
first,  nothing  now  remains  to  be  said:  we  regard  them 
as  taken  ultimately  from  the  state  records  of  the  two 
monarchies,  but  immediately  from  one  or  other  of  the 
three  historical  works  described  in  the  last  paragraph  \ 

With  respect  to  the  longer  narratives,  there  are  one 
or  two  points  to  be  noted.  In  the  first  place,  their  style 
and  general  character  are  such  that  in  most  cases  they 
would  have  been  out  of  place  in  a  political  chronicle,  and 
therefore  they  cannot  be  reasonably  assigned  to  any  of 
the  sources  named  by  the  compiler.  In  most,  though 
not  quite  all,  the  religious  interest  predominates,  and  is 
exhibited  chiefly  in  the  prominence  given  to  the  activity 
of  the  prophets.  In  the  second  place,  their  literary 
features  show  that  they  were  not  written  by  the  compiler 
himself,  while  the  differences  of  style  and  standpoint 
prove  them  to  have  been  produced  by  many  different 
authors  and  under  varied  circumstances.  In  the  third 
place,  they  are  not  unfrequently  annotated  by  the  com- 
piler ;  hence  they  must  have  passed  through  his  hands 
and  been  incorporated  by  him  in  the  book.  It  is  important 
also  to  observe  the  links  of  connexion  between  them  and 

*  Those  belonging  to  the  reign  of  Solomon  are  denoted 
by  the  letter  A  (see  p.  82) ;  in  the  subsequent  history 
they  are  marked  KI  and  KJ  respectively,  without  any 
attempt  to  discriminate  between  notices  that  may  have  stood 
in  the  original  official  sources  and  others  which  received 
their  present  form  from  the  editors  of  the  books  of  th.c 
Chronicles. 


INTRODUCTION  27 

the  annalistic  passages— each  tacitly  presupposing  the 
other  in  a  way  which  makes  it  practically  certain  that 
it  is  the  compiler  himself  who  has  blended  the  two  dis- 
parate elements  into  one  whole  ^  The  conclusion  to 
which  all  this  leads  is  manifest.  Just  as  the  compiler 
has  omitted  much  that  he  read  in  his  proximate  sources, 
because  it  did  not  further  his  religious  aim,  so  he  has 
enriched  the  history  from  a  variety  of  independent  docu- 
ments ;  and  he  has  been  able  to  draw  on  these  sources 
all  the  more  freely  that  for  the  most  part  they  represent 
a  religious  standpoint  essentially  akin  to  his  own. 

We  now  proceed  to  enumerate  the  most  important  and 
the  most  easily  distinguishable  of  these  independent 
sources. 

C.  The  account  of  Solomon's  accession  in  i  K.  i,  ii,  is 
taken  from  what  may  be  described  as  a  Court-memoir 
of  the  reign  of  David.  It  belongs  to  the  same  document 
as  2  Sam.  ix-xx ;  and  apparently  forms  the  immediate 
continuation  and  conclusion  of  that  graphic  and  well- 
informed  narrative ;  see  further,  p.  57.  There  are  some 
resemblances  between  its  style  and  that  of  the  story  of 
the  revolt  in  i  K.  xii,  which  seem  to  show  that  it  was  known 
to  the  writer  of  the  latter  passage  ;  but  in  what  precise 
relation  the  two  stand  to  one  another  it  is  difficult  to 
judge. 

S.  In  the  history  of  Solomon  we  find  a  few  anecdotes 
illustrative  of  his  wisdom  and  greatness  which  are  cer- 
tainly not  annalistic,  and  whose  origin  cannot  be  definitely 
traced  to  any  known  source :  viz.  Solomon's  dream  at 
Gibeon  (i  K.  iii.4-15) ;  his  famous  Judgement  (iii.  16-28) ; 
the  visit  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  (x.  i-io).  There  is, 
however,  no  serious  difficulty  in  supposing  that  they  were 
in  the  secondary  source,  the  Book  of  the  Acts  of  Solomon  ; 
and  they  have  been  marked  accordingly.     See  p.  82. 

*  E.g.  I  K.  xiv.  iff.  is  unintelligible  apart  from  xii.  25  ff.  ; 
xvii.  I  presupposes  xvi.  20  ff.  ;  2  K.  ix  rests  on  viii.  28  ;  &c., 
&c,  (Wellhausen,  against  Thenius). 


28  I   AND    IT    KINGS 

T.  The  account  of  the  building  of  the  Temple  and 
palace  in  i  K.  vi,  vii,  which  is  wedged  into  a  mass  of  an- 
nalistic  fragments,  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  drawn  from 
a  document  preserved  in  the  Temple  archives  (see  p.  103). 
To  the  same  source  some  would  assign  the  later  sections 
which  we  have  marked  J  (see  below). 

N.  For  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  the  com- 
piler has  used  first  of  all  a  group  of  northern  narratives, 
mainly  of  a  political  character:  i  K.  xx,  xxii.  1-38  ;  2  K. 
iii,  vi.  24-vii.  20,  ix,  x ;  and  next, 

A  series  of  biographies  of  the  great  northern  prophets — 
Ej.  Elijah:  i  K.  xvii-xix,  xxi ;  2  K.  i.  2-17;  and 
Es.  Elisha  :  2  K.  ii,  iv.  i-vi.  23,  viii.  1-15,  xiii.  14-21. 
It  will  be  found  that  these  groups  overlap  one  another 
at  several  points  ;  and  their  mutual  affinities  have  per- 
haps not  been  quite  satisfactorily  made  out  as  yet.  The 
political  series  (N)  is  united  by  some  striking  literarj' 
resemblances  ;  and  hence  Wellhausen  and  others  suppose 
that  the  passages  are  all  taken  from  a  single  historical 
work  dealing  with  the  important  peiiod  from  Ahab  to 
Jehu.  The  prominence  given  to  the  prophets  Micaiah 
and  Elisha  is,  of  course,  not  in  itself  an  objection  to  this 
view ;  because  their  activity  was  in  reality  an  influential 
factor  in  the  political  life  of  the  time.  The  two  latest 
commentators  (Benzinger  and  Kittel),  however,  take  a 
different  view.  While  recognizing  the  essentially  political 
and  secular  character  of  i  K.  xx,  xxii,  they  regard  the  later 
passages  (especially  2  K.  iii  and  vi.  24  ff.)  as  really  belonging 
to  a  life  of  Elisha.  The  occasional  similarities  in  language 
to  I  K.  XX,  xxii  they  explain  by  conscious  or  unconscious 
imitation  of  the  one  author  by  the  other  ;  and  it  is  pointed 
out  that  there  are  affinities  hardly  less  striking  with  the 
undoubtedly  prophetic  narratives,  Ej.  and  Es\  These 
latter  groups  are  both  of  composite  origin  ;  and  it  is 
thought  that  2  K.  iii,  vi.  24  ff.  represent  a  particular  stratum 

'   For  details,  see  the  Notes,  pp.  244,  282  f.,  305  f. 


INTRODUCTION  29 

in  the  collection  of  Elisha-narratives — more  political 
than  the  rest,  but  still  belonging  decidedly  to  the  depart- 
ment of  prophetic  biography.  It  seems  doubtful  if  either 
of  these  theories  does  justice  by  itself  to  all  the  facts  of 
the  case ;  and  some  more  complicated  hypothesis  may 
have  to  be  resorted  to  in  order  to  harmonize  the  conflicting 
indications.  It  is  certainly  remarkable  that  the  whole  of 
both  groups  (i  K.  xx,  xxii  not  excepted)  illustrate  more 
or  less  distinctly  the  influence  of  the  prophets  in  North 
Israel.  In  i  K.  xx,  it  is  true,  the  prophets  are  anonymous ; 
and  the  passages  relating  to  them  are  generally  regarded 
as  patches  on  the  original  political  narrative,  added  by 
the  compiler.  But  it  is  quite  as  likely  that  they  express 
the  purpose  of  the  independent  document  before  it  was 
incorporated  in  the  Book  of  Kings ;  and  in  that  case  we 
should  have  to  suppose  that  an  originally  political  narrative 
had  been  utilized  as  the  basis  of  a  great  work  on  northern 
prophecy.  This  would  explain  the  dual  character  of 
2  K.  iii,  vi.  24  ff.,  which  may  have  been  partly  rewritten  to 
form  the  political  background  of  the  ministry  of  Elisha, 
while  at  the  same  time  their  original  affinities  with  i  K.  xx, 
xxii  have  been  preserved.  It  is,  further,  not  improbable 
that  the  strictly  prophetic  Elijah-  and  Elisha-narratives 
(Ej.  and  Es.)  had  been  amalgamated  with  N  into  a  com- 
prehensive history  of  prophecy  in  the  kingdom  of  Ephraim. 

J.  Coming  now  to  the  southern  kingdom,  we  find  four 
lengthy  passages  (2  K.  xi,  xii.  4ff.,  xvi.  10-18,  and  xxii.  3- 
xxiii.  24)  which  seem  to  have  a  common  origin ;  and 
which,  as  has  been  mentioned  above,  some  critics  assign 
to  the  Temple  archives.  We  are  disposed  to  think  they 
are  taken  straight  from  the  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of 
Judah  (KJ) ;  and  have  marked  2  K.  xi  accordingly.  For 
the  other  three  passages,  whose  origin  may  be  more 
doubtful,  the  symbol  J  has  been  used. 

I  and  I^  Finally,  the  account  of  Hezekiah's  reign  is 
amplified  in  2  K.  xviii.  17-xx.  19  by  extracts  from  the 
biography  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  in  which  perhaps  two 


30  I   AND   II    KINGS 

separate  narratives  had  previously  been  combined   (see 

p.  3S6fif.). 

These  are  the  principal  documents  which  the  compiler 
had  at  his  disposal  in  writing  the  history  of  the  monarchy. 
We  see  how  his  use  of  them  has  been  guided  by  his 
dominant  religious  purpose,  which  has  led  him  to  devote 
so  much  space  to  narratives  of  which  the  prophets  or  the 
Temple  formed  the  central  interest.  We  have  next  to 
consider  what  assurance  we  have  that  all  these  passages 
were  actually  inserted  by  the  compiler,  and  not  by  some 
later  editor  or  scribe.  That  subject  has  to  be  discussed 
in  connexion  with  some  facts  which  show  that  post- 
redactional  additions  do  occur  in  our  present  Book  of 
Kings  ;  and  to  this  question  we  now  turn. 


VI.   Later  Additions  and  Redactions. 

The  evidence  thus  far  adduced  goes  to  show  that  the 
Book  of  Kings  existed  substantially  in  its  present  form 
before  the  close  of  the  Exile,  and  that  the  strictly  historical 
material  had  been  sifted  and  arranged  by  a  pre-Exilic 
compiler.  We  have  found  no  proof  that  the  younger 
Deuteronomic  editor  had  any  fresh  documents  at  his 
command,  or  that  he  has  added  new  facts  to  the  history 
covered  by  the  work  of  his  predecessor.  For  the  interval 
between  the  two  redactions  he  does  appear  to  have 
availed  himself  to  some  extent  of  written  sources  (see 
p.  436)  ;  but  for  the  rest  his  additions  are  confined  to  the 
didactic  element  of  the  book,  and  have  all  been  freely 
composed  by  himself.  But  have  we  any  certainty  that 
the  process  of  compilation  and  expansion  was  completely 
arrested  about  the  end  of  the  Exile,  and  that  no  important 
additions  were  made  after  the  book  left  the  hands  of  the 
second  redactor  ?  Is  it  not  possible  that  not  only  inter- 
polations, but  even  complete  narratives  of  late  date,  may 
have  been   inserted   by  successive  editors   in  the  long 


INTRODUCTION  31 

period  between  the  original  redactors  and  the  time  when 
the  text  received  its  final  form  ? 

The  activity  of  late  editors  is  often  most  easily  recog- 
nized in  short  glosses  or  interpolations  which  they  have 
introduced  (frequently  in  the  margin  at  first)  for  the 
purpose  of  explaining  or  modifying"  some  statements 
which  had  become  either  unintelligible  or  incredible  to 
the  age  in  which  they  lived.  The  discussion  of  such 
matters  belongs  to  the  province  of  textual  rather  than  of 
literary  criticism ;  and  it  is  unnecessary  in  this  place  to 
say  more  than  that  the  presence  of  such  interpolations 
is  to  be  expected,  and  is  abundantly  proved.  There  is 
just  one  series  of  slight  insertions  of  sufficient  importance 
to  be  mentioned  here,  because  it  reveals  a  point  of  view  . 
different  from  that  of  the  Deuteronomic  compilers.  The 
letter  P  is  used  in  the  text  to  denote  what  may  be 
called  Priestly  glosses ;  i.e.  glosses  which  show  a  familiarity  j 
with  the  Priestly  Code  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  represent  / 
a  tendency  to  superimpose  its  characteristic  phraseology  / 
on  the  more  ancient  narratives  of  the  Book  of  Kings.  / 
That  they  are  really  later  additions  is  further  shown  by 
the  fact  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  them  was 
wanting  in  the  MSS.  from  which  the  Greek  translation 
was  made.  It  will  be  seen  that  glosses  of  this  kind  are 
few  in  number,  and  are  practically  confined  to  one  section 
of  the  history.  They  occur  most  frequently  in  the  account 
of  the  dedication  of  the  Temple  (i  K.  viii.  i-i  i) ;  there  are 
one  or  two  in  the  description  of  the  Temple  buildings 
(vi,  vii) ;  and  perhaps  a  couple  of  isolated  instances  in 
the  rest  of  the  book  (e.  g.  i  K.  xviii.  3 1  b).  Now  the  extreme 
rarity  of  these  priestly  annotations  is  a  very  interesting 
fact,  and  a  proof  of  the  fidelity  with  which  the  character- 
istic features  of  the  book  have  been  preserved.  What 
a  systematic  revision  of  the  Book  of  Kings  from  the 
priestly  standpoint  would  have  meant  we  can  partly  judge 
from  the  parallel  sections  of  the  books  of  Chronicles, 
where  the  ancient  history  is  largely  recast  in  order  to 


32  I   AND   II    KINGS 

bring  it  into  conformity  with  the  ideals  which  had  long 
become  traditional  under  the  influence  of  the  Priestly 
Code.  The  almost  complete  immunity  of  the  IJook  of 
Kings  from  this  method  of  trcaiment  is  a  valuable 
testimony  to  the  soundness  of  the  historical  tradition 
which  it  represents. 

The  question  regarding  the  insertion  of  longer  narrative 
passages  is  at  once  more  difficult  and  more  important. 
Strictly  speaking,  we  can  have  no  absolute  assurance  that 
any  particular  section  stood  in  the  original  book,  unless 
it  bears  traces  of  the  compiler's  pen,  or  else  is  presup- 
posed by  some  other  section  which  demonstrably  passed 
through  his  hands.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  number 
of  important  passages  which  fail  to  satisfy  this  abstract 
test  is  not  small.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  mere 
absence  of  editorial  comment  is  plainly  no  proof  that 
a  passage  was  7iot  placed  by  the  compiler ;  and  no  sober 
critic  would  think  of  disputing  its  genuineness,  except 
where  it  interrupts  the  connexion,  or  where  its  standpoint 
and  language  suggest  a  considerably  later  date.  Thus, 
the  incident  of  Naboth's  vineyard  in  i  K.  xxi  contains  clear 
evidence  of  the  compiler's  activity,  and  must  be  unhesita- 
tingly set  down  as  belonging  to  one  of  his  sources.  The 
same  cannot  be  said  of  Elijah's  conflict  with  Jezebel  and 
Ahab  in  i  K.  xvii-xix.  But  then  the  two  narratives  so 
closely  resemble  each  other  that  no  reason  can  be  given 
for  assigning  their  authorship  to  different  periods ;  since 
one  is  certainly  older  than  the  compiler,  the  other  must  be 
presumed  to  be  older  likewise,  and  to  have  been  incor- 
porated by  him  in  his  work.  By  the  application  of  that 
obvious  principle  of  criticism,  the  great  bulk  of  the 
documentary  material  is  guaranteed  beyond  all  reasonable 
doubt. 

There  remain,  however,  a  few  cases  where  at  least  the 
possibility  of  post-redactional  insertion  must  be  left  an 
open  question.  A  typical  instance  is  the  story  of  Jeroboam 
and  the  man  of  God  from  Juduh  in  i  K.  xiii.    We  note  in  the 


INTRODUCTION  33 

first  place  that  this  narrative  seems  to  have  been  intruded 
into  its  position,  and  not  without  disturbing  the  continuity 
of  the  verses  immediately  preceding.  It  contains,  more- 
over, features  which  in  the  judgement  of  some  critics 
indicate  a  stage  of  theological  reflection  more  advanced 
than  the  period  preceding  the  Exile.  Hence,  in  the  entire 
absence  of  any  sign,  direct  or  indirect,  that  it  passed  under 
the  eye  of  the  compiler,  the  suggestion  that  it  was  inserted 
in  a  later  age  cannot  be  absolutely  excluded.  Some 
scholars,  indeed,  think  the  facts  can  be  sufficiently  ex- 
plained by  assigning  the  section  to  the  younger  (Exilic) 
redactor ;  but  that  view  has  little  to  recommend  it.  For, 
apart  from  the  question  whether  the  younger  redactor  used 
any  additional  documents  at  all,  if  the  difference  of  stand- 
point be  as  great  as  is  alleged,  the  interval  of  time  between 
the  two  redactions  seems  too  short  to  account  for  it. 
The  same  kind  of  considerations  applies  to  some  other 
passages,  whose  early  date  is  open  to  question :  they  are 
those  marked  in  the  text  by  the  letter  Z. 

VII.    The  Greek  Version  of  Kings. 

The  translation  of  the  O.  T.  from  Hebrew  into  Greek 
was  gradually  accomplished  at  various  times  during  the 
two  and  a  half  centuries  preceding  the  Christian  era. 
The  middle  portion  of  the  Canon,  to  which  the  Book  of 
Kings  belongs,  was  probably  in  existence  in  its  Greek 
garb  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century  B.C.  ^ ;  so 
that  from  that  time  downwards  we  are  sure  that  the 
transmission  of  the  text  ran  in  two  parallel  channels, 
although  actual  MS.  evidence  of  the  existence  of  either 
is  not  met  with  till  a  much  later  date. 

The  lay  reader  is  apt  to  be  surprised  at  the  deference 
paid  by  modern  commentators  to  this  version,  seeing  it 
only  purports  to  be  a  translation  in  another  tongue  of  an 

*  See  the  Prologue  to  Ecclesiasticus,  written  by  the  Greek 
translator,  c.  130  b.  c. 


34  I    AND    II    KINGS 

original  which  we  still  have  in  our  own  hands.  It  may 
therefore  be  desirable  to  say  a  few  words  here  in  explana- 
tion of  the  importance  for  O.  T.  study  of  this  translation, 
which  is  commonly  known  as  the  Septuagint  (LXX),  and 
which,  it  should  be  remembered,  was  the  Bible  chiefly 
used  by  the  N.  T.  writers. 

Every  one  understands  the  value  for  N.  T.  criticism  of 
a  comparison  of  various  readings  in  different  MSS.  In 
the  study  of  the  O.  T.  this  resource  fails  us,  all  existing 
Hebrew  MSS.  being  practically  identical,  and  none  of 
them  older  than  the  ninth  century  a.d.  This,  of  course, 
shows  that  extraordinary  care  was  exercised  in  copying 
the  text  from  that  time  onwards,  and  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  the  same  scrupulous  fidelity  was  observed 
since  the  second  or  third  century  A.  D.,  when  it  is  supposed 
that  a  standard  Hebrew  text  was  adopted,  to  which  all 
MSS.  were  conformed.  We  have  no  right  to  assume,  how- 
ever, that  a  similar  uniformity  prevailed  before  that  date, 
or  that  the  standard  text  uhimately  agreed  upon  represents 
accurately  the  original  autographs,  or  even  the  closest 
approximation  to  them  that  might  have  been  obtained. 
Now,  the  chief  value  of  the  LXX  is  this,  that  very  fre- 
quently it  is  a  translation,  not  of  the  text  which  we  read 
in  our  Hebrew  Bibles,  but  of  an  independent  and  divergent 
text,  which  of  course  must  have  been  that  of  some  Hebrew 
MSS.  at  the  time  the  translation  was  made.  Though 
these  MSS.  have  perished  and  have  left  no  successors  in 
Hebrew,  the  LXX  affords  positive  proof  of  their  existence  ; 
and  they  have  to  be  reckoned  with  as  independent 
witnesses  to  the  condition  of  the  text,  say  in  the  second 
century  B.  c,  just  as  if  they  lay  before  us  now.  And 
whether  they  represented  a  superior  or  inferior  form  of  the 
text  is  a  question  not  to  be  settled  off-hand  by  2ir\y  a  priori 
considerations,  but  to  be  decided  on  the  merits  of  each 
particular  case.  If,  for  example,  the  LXX  should  suggest 
an  emendation  of  the  Hebrew,  which  renders  intelligible 
what  is  otherwise  obscure,  there  is  a  presumption  that  it 


INTRODUCriON  35 

follows  the  reading  of  a  better  MS.  than  that  followed  in 
preparing  the  standard  Hebrew  text.  Or  if  the  LXX 
lacks  a  passage  which  looks  like  an  interpolation  in  the 
Hebrew,  it  strengthens  the  probability  that  an  insertion  had 
really  been  made  in  the  family  of  MSS.  represented  by 
the  standard  text,  but  not  in  those  followed  by  the  LXX. 
Or,  once  more,  if  the  LXX  should  mention  some  incident 
not  recorded  in  the  Hebrew,  which  throws  light  on  the 
general  sequence  of  events,  we  may  suppose  that  the  LXX 
has  preserved  a  genuine  element  of  the  historical  tradition 
which  the  Hebrew  has  lost.  Of  course,  all  these  hypo- 
thetical cases  may  be  reversed,  with  the  result  of  estab- 
lishing the  superiority  of  the  Hebrew;  but  each  instance 
has  to  be  examined  separately,  without  prejudice  in  favour 
of  one  version  or  the  other. 

Here  another  fact  has  to  be  noticed.  From  the  time 
of  Origen  the  text  of  the  LXX  has  been  subjected  to 
repeated  revisions  ;  and  the  constant  tendency  of  these 
revisions  was  to  assimilate  its  text  more  and  more  closely 
to  the  Hebrew  standard.  New  Greek  translations,  based 
on  our  present  Hebrew,  had  come  into  existence ;  and 
when  a  reviser  thought  that  his  exemplar  of  the  LXX 
deviated  too  far  from  the  Hebrew,  he  was  very  apt  to 
substitute  the  corresponding  section  of  the  more  recent 
versions  as  being  more  faithful  to  the  Hebrew  verity. 
Hence,  if  of  two  Greek  MSS.  one  gives  a  literal  reproduc- 
tion of  the  Hebrew  as  we  have  it,  while  the  other  markedly 
diverges  from  it,  there  is  a  very  strong  probability  indeed 
that  the  latter  will  represent  the  original  LXX  and  the 
former  a  later  accommodation  to  the  Hebrew.  Or  if,  as 
frequently  happens,  a  passage  of  the  Hebrew  is  duplicated 
in  the  Greek,  once  in  a  literal  rendering  and  again  in 
a  divergent  form,  we  may  again  assume  that  the  latter  is 
the  real  text  of  the  LXX,  and  therefore  of  the  group  of 
ancient  MSS.  on  which  that  translation  was  based. 

These  are  perhaps  the  elementary  facts  on  which  the 
critical  use  of  the  LXX  proceeds ;  but  the  questions  which 

D  2 


36  I   AND   II    KINGS 

arise  in  practice  are  amongst  the  most  difficult  with  which 
textual  criticism  has  to  deal.  Unfortunately  the  study  of 
the  LXX  text  is  not  yet  sufificiently  advanced  to  permit  of 
its  being  fully  utilized  as  an  instrument  of  critical  in- 
vestigation. Much  remains  to  be  done  before  the  original 
translations  are  disentangled  from  the  later  accretions 
that  have  gathered  round  them  ;  and  the  idiosyncrasies 
of  the  various  Greek  translators  will  have  to  be  carefully 
marked  before  a  confident  judgement  can  be  formed  on 
the  character  of  the  Hebrew  text  which  underlies  their 
work.  Still,  even  the  helps  already  available,  if  used 
cautiously,  are  of  priceless  value  to  the  expositor.  For 
while  no  existing  edition  professes  to  give  the  LXX  text 
in  its  original  condition,  there  are  some  texts  which  can 
be  pretty  safely  relied  on  as  representing  it  very  closely 
in  particular  instances.  The  edition  of  Swete  reproduces 
the  text  of  the  famous  Vatican  MS.  (referred  to  as  LXX 
(B)),  which,  so  far  as  the  Book  of  Kings  is  concerned,  is 
relatively  free  from  the  harmonizing  alterations  of  the 
revised  recensions;  and  that  of  Lagarde,  giving  the  text  of 
a  family  of  MSS.  supposed  to  represent  the  recension 
of  Lucian  of  Antioch  (LXX  (L)),  about  the  beginning  of 
the  fourth  century  A.  D.,  also  contains  many  independent 
readings  which  appear  to  be  primitive.  These,  together 
with  the  so-called  Hexaplar  Syriac  and  the  monumental 
work  of  Field  ^  are  perhaps  the  most  useful  aids  in  this 
branch  of  investigation  ;  and  by  a  judicious  use  of  the 
material  provided  by  them  we  undoubtedly  obtain  a  great 
deal  of  light  on  points  of  exegesis  and  criticism  which 
would  otherwise  be  hopelessly  obscure. 

In  order  to  convey  some  idea  of  the  mutual  relations  of 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  versions  we  here  enumerate  the 
more  striking  cases  of  variation:— In  the  second  chapter 

*  Origenis  Hexaplorum  quae  supersunt,  &c.,  vol.  i,  1875. 
For  information  on  all  these  matters  the  reader  is  referred 
to  Swete's  admirable  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  in 
Greek,  1900. 


INTRODUCTION  37 

of  I  Kings  two  long  insertions  occur  in  the  LXX,  one  after 
verse  35  and  the  other  at  the  end  of  the  chapter.  These 
have  a  certain  critical  interest,  though  it  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  they  are  essentially  anything  better  than 
a  rechauffi  of  material  which  the  Hebrew  contains  in 
other  and  more  natural  connexions  (see  p.  80  f.).  In  ch.  iv, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  arrangement  of  the  LXX  is 
distinctly  superior  to  the  Hebrew  (see  p.  94).  The  most 
perplexing  of  all  the  differences  is  the  widely  divergent 
account  of  the  career  of  Jeroboam  which  the  LXX  inserts 
between  verses  24  and  25  of  ch.  xii :  along  with  this  we 
have  to  take  the  account  of  the  revolt,  which  corresponds  in 
the  main  to  the  Hebrew  (though  the  name  of  Jeroboam  does 
not  appear  till  verse  20),  and  also  the  omission  of  xiv.  1-20. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  understand  how  such  a  narrative  could 
have  arisen  out  of  the  Hebrew  account ;  but  the  discussion 
of  the  question  must  be  reserved  for  an  Appendix  (Note  II). 
A  simpler  case  is  the  transposition  of  xx  and  xxi,  so  as  to 
bring  together  the  Elijah  narratives  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  political  narratives  on  the  other  in  what  many  scholars 
regard  as  the  true  and  original  order  (p.  254).  Another 
kind  of  variation  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  reign  of 
Jehoshaphat  is  inserted  (in  i  K.  xvi.  28*-^)  before  instead 
of  after  that  of  Ahab.  This  is  the  result  of  a  difference 
in  chronology  which  makes  Jehoshaphat  accede  to  the 
throne  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Omri  instead  of  the  fourth 
of  Ahab ;  and  it  illustrates  at  once  the  resolute  consistency 
with  which  the  editors  carried  out  their  principles,  and  the 
freedom  with  which  they  rearranged  the  material  in 
accordance  with  them.  And  finally  we  may  call  attention 
to  a  series  of  discrepancies  in  the  chronology,  which 
cannot  be  explained  by  accidental  errors  in  copying,  but 
seem  to  imply  two  radically  distinct  chronological  systems 
between  which  the  allegiance  of  different  editors  had  been 
divided.  To  this  subject  we  shall  return  in  the  nexty 
section. 

It  does  not  appear  that  any  single  theory  will  apply  to 


38  I    AND   II    KINGS 

all  these  variations  ;  which,  be  it  remembered,  are  not  one 
tenth  part  of  those  that  have  to  be  dealt  with  in  a  minute 
study  of  the  book.  Some,  no  doubt,  might  be  set  down 
to  the  caprice  or  ignorance  of  the  translators  ;  but  there 
are  others  which  still  await  a  satisfactory  explanation.  One 
is  almost  driven  to  regard  them  in  the  light  of  residual 
phenomena,  which  refuse  to  accommodate  themselves  to 
any  hard  and  fast  theory  of  the  composition  of  the  book. 
The  one  general  conclusion  to  which  they  unambiguously 
point  is  that  the  text  of  Kings  remained  in  a  very  fluid 
condition  down  to  the  second  century  B.  C:  '  Neither  the 
one  version  nor  the  other  is  the  original ;  each  represents 
a  stage,  and  not  always  the  same  stage,  in  the  long-pro- 
tracted labours  of  the  redactors  \' 

VIII.   The  Chronology. 

The  compiler  of  Kings  would  appear  to  have  been  one 
of  the  first  O.  T.  writers  to  recognize  the  importance  for 
the  historian  of  a  definite  and  systematic  chronology. 
He  has  met  this  requirement  by  the  elaborate  series  of 
notices  contained  in  the  Introductory  Formulas  of  the 
framework ;  and  if  the  figures  should  be  found  reliable, 
he  has  thus  provided  the  materials  for  a  perfect  chronology 
of  the  period  covered  by  his  histor)'.  The  tests  to  which 
every  such  system  must  be  subjected  are  firsts  its  self- 
consistency,  and  second,  its  agreement  with  independent 
trustworthy  records,  such,  for  example,  as  those  supplied 
by  the  Assyrian  monuments.  Now,  a  very  slight  in- 
spection of  the  system  suffices  to  show  that  its  data 
frequently  contradict  each  other,  so  that  it  is  quite  im- 
possible to  accept  its  statements  without  criticism.  On 
further  examination,  it  appears  that  the  results  do  not 
correspond  with  those  derived  from  the  Assyrian  inscrip- 
tions ;  although  it  may  be  said  at  once  that  the  errors 
of  the  Hebrew  text  appear  to  be  much  less  extensive  than 

^  Kucnen,  Ondcrzoek,  p.  428. 


INTRODUCTION  39 

is  often  supposed.  We  are  here  confronted  with  problems 
of  extreme  intricacy,  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  which 
is  far  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  volume.  It  is 
necessaiy,  nevertheless,  that  something  should  be  said 
on  the  subject,  partly  for  the  sake  of  exhibiting  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  the  chronological  scheme  of  the  book  has 
been  constructed,  and  partly  with  the  aim  of  reducing 
the  probabilities  of  error  to  their  proper  dimensions. 

I.    The    Chronological    Scheme.      First   of   all,   it    is 
necessary  to  distinguish  between  the  two  elements  which 
enter  into  the  chronological  statements  of  the  framework  : 
viz.  first,  the  lengths  of  the  reigns ;  and  second  (for  the 
period  of  the  divided  monarchy),  the  synchronisms  between  u 
the  histories  of  Israel  and  Judah.     The  numerous  dis-  j 
crepancies  between  these  two  sets  of  figures  prove  con-/ 
ciusively  that  they  do  not  proceed  from  the  same  author, 
and  that  the  synchronisms  have  been  calculated  from  the 
durations  of  the  reigns  (not,  of  course,  vice  versa).     The 
facts  cannot  be  explained  by  the  assumption  of  textual 
corruption,  for  it  is  usually  found  that  a  mistake  once 
introduced  is  perpetuated,  until  it  is  neutralized  by  another. 
It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  lengths  of  reign  were^j 
taken  from  the  Chronicles  of  Israel  and  Judah  by  the' 
compiler,  and  therefore  rested  originally  on  good  authority: 
whether  they  have  been  accurately  transmitted  is  of  course 
another  question.    The  synchronisms  are  usually  attributed! 
to  the  younger  redactor ;  but  in  view  of  the  remarkable 
deviations  found  in  the  LXX  (especially  in  LXX  (L), 
see  below)  it  seems  more  probable  that  they  were  inserted 
at  a  much  later  stage  in  the  history  of  the  text.     For  our 
immediate  practical  purposes,  therefore,  it  might  be  safe 
to  confine  our  attention  to  the  durations  of  the  reigns, 
neglecting  the  synchronisms  except  in  so  far  as  they  help 
to  locate  an  error  in  the  other  series,  or  throw  light  on 
the  mode  of  reckoning  there  employed. 

The  next  question,  accordingly,  is  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  length  of  a  reign  was  computed.    Two  methods 


40  I    AND    II    KINGS 

are  possible :  (a)  The  first  (which  is  the  one  that  com- 
mends itself  to  us  as  most  natural  and  convenient)  is  to 
reckon  by  complete  calendar  years,  so  that  if  a  king 
comes  to  the  throne  in  the  middle  of  a  year  that  year 
will  be  given  to  his  predecessor,  while  the  ensuing  year 
is  counted  as  the  first  year  of  the  new  reign.  On  this 
principle  the  time  occupied  by  a  series  of  reigns  will  be 
obtained  by  simple  addition  of  the  separate  durations. 
(d)  But  another  method  is  conceivable.  The  year  in 
which  a  change  of  reign  occurs  might  be  reckoned  twice, 
once  as  the  last  year  of  the  deceased  king,  and  again  as 
the  first  of  his  successor ;  so  that  to  find  the  true  period 
covered  by  a  number  of  reigns  we  must  deduct  from  the 
sum  of  the  lengths  one  year  for  each  reign.  Benzinger 
has  tried  to  prove  that  both  methods  were  in  use  among 
Hebrew  chronologers ;  and  that  while  the  latter  (d) 
governs  the  chronology  of  the  Hebrew  text,  the  former 
(a)  lay  at  the  basis  of  the  original  LXX,  and  is  represented 
by  a  striking  but  fragmentary  series  of  notices  preserved 
chiefly  in  LXX  (L).  The  facts  arc  perhaps  not  sufficiently 
numerous  to  allow  a  confident  judgement  on  the  latter 
point ;  although  it  will  appear  presently  that  Benzinger's 
theory  gives  significance  to  many  interesting  phenomena 
of  the  text  of  LXX  (L).  At  all  events,  it  is  quite  clear 
that  (d)  is  the  prevalent  method  of  the  Hebrew  synchron- 
isms. This  is  seen  most  evidently  from  such  cases  as 
Nadab,  Elah,  and  Ahaziah  (of  Israel),  each  of  whom 
reigned  two  years,  while  each  reign  terminated  (according 
to  the  synchronisms)  in  the  year  immediately  following 
that  in  which  it  began.  At  the  same  time,  there  are 
a  good  many  exceptions— e.g.  Abijam,  Jehoash  (of 
Judah),  Pekah,  &c.— in  which  (barring  errors  of  text)  the 
method  (a)  appears  to  be  followed. 

We  may  now  proceed  to  illustrate  these  results  from 
the  chronological  data  of  the  book.  For  this  purpose  we 
divide  the  history  into  three  periods,  marked  by  the  two 
absolutely  fixed  synchronisms  between  the  histories  of 


INTRODUCTION  41 

Israel  and  Judah  :  viz.  the  deaths  of  Ahaziah  of  Judah 
and  Jehoram  of  Israel  on  one  day,  and  second,  the  fall 
of  Samaria  in  the  sixth  year  of  Hezekiah  of  Judah. 

In  the  first  period— from  the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes 
to  the  murder  of  Ahaziah  and  Jehoram  by  Jehu— there 
are  six  reigns  in  Judah  and  nine  in  Israel.  Taking  the 
lengths  of  the  reigns  as  they  stand  in  the  Hebrew,  the 
sum  is,  for  Judah  ninety-five  years,  and  for  Israel  ninety- 
eight  years.  If,  now,  in  accordance  with  the  method  (d), 
we  subtract  a  year  for  each  reign,  we  find  that  each 
series  runs  to  eighty-nine  years.  So  close  a  correspon- 
dence cannot  be  accidental ;  and  the  result  confirms  the 
hypothesis  that  (d)  is  actually  the  system  on  which  the 
Hebrew  computation  is  based.  The  method  (a)  yields  an 
inequality  of  three  years  ;  and  possibly  this  is  the  ex- 
planation of  the  fact  that  Abijam  receives  six  years  in 
the  LXX  as  against  the  three  years  of  the  Hebrew; 
though  it  might  still  be  made  a  question  whether  the 
reign  was  lengthened  in  the  LXX  or  shortened  in  the 
Hebrew.  At  any  rate,  the  six  years  of  the  LXX  brings 
the  Judaean  series  up  to  ninety-eight  years,  in  harmony 
with  the  Israelitish  series.  The  synchronisms  of  the 
period  present  many  anomalies  in  both  versions  ;  but  in 
the  Hebrew  the  method  (d)  obtains  on  the  whole,  while 
the  LXX  has  some  striking  examples  of  (a).  One  of  the 
most  singular  is  the  case  of  Asa,  who  is  said  to  have 
ascended  the  throne  in  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  Jeroboam 
(i  K.  XV.  9,  LXX) ;  although  the  Hebrew  allows  only 
a  twenty-two  years'  reign  to  the  latter  monarch  (xiv.  20). 
This  is  a  passage  which  was  not  found  in  the  original 
LXX ;  so  it  is  just  possible  that  some  MSS.  assigned  him 
a  twenty-five  years'  reign  ;  and  in  this  way  the  advantage 
of  giving  six  years  to  Abijam  would  be  neutralized.  But 
these  perplexing  inquiries  cannot  be  further  pursued  here^. 

^  It  may  also  be  noted  that  in  a  passage  peculiar  to  the  LXX 
xii.  24*)  the  Vatican  MS.  gives  only  twelve  years  to  the  reign 
of  Rehoboam. 


42  I    AND    II    KINGS 

It  is  in  the  middle  period— from  the  revolution  of  Jehu 
to  the  fall  of  Samaria — that  errors  are  most  serious  and 
most  embarrassing.  The  sum  of  the  Israelitish  reigns  is 
here  144,  that  of  the  Judaean  165  years  ;  if  we  follow  the 
method  (d)  the  numbers  are  135  and  158  respectively. 
With  such  a  discrepancy  correct  synchronisms  are  im- 
possible ;  and  there  are  two  which  at  once  arrest  attention 
by  their  glaring  inconsistency :  those,  namely,  of  Azariah 
of  Judah  {2  K.  xv.  i)  and  Zechariah  of  Israel  (xv.  8).  The 
former  is  eleven  years,  and  the  latter  twelve  years,  too 
late  ;  but  as  they  occur  in  opposite  series  the  effect  is 
cumulative  ;  and  they  reveal  a  total  disparity  of  twenty- 
three  years,  which  is  just  the  amount  of  error  we  are 
looking  for.  But  it  is  very  difficult  to  conceive  how  the 
mistake  could  have  originated.  The  latter  synchronism 
obviously  requires  either  that  the  reign  of  Amaziah  (of 
Judah)  be  shortened,  or  that  of  Jeroboam  II  lengthened, 
by  eleven  years  ^.  Let  us  try  the  first  alternative,  which 
is  the  less  objectionable  of  the  two.  In  this  case  Azariah 
came  to  the  throne  in  the  fourth  of  Jeroboam  II ;  and  the 
sum  of  the  Judaean  reigns  is  reduced  to  147  years  (on  the 
method  (d)).  This  still  leaves  twelve  years  to  be  accounted 
for ;  but  the  synchronisms  yield  us  no  further  guidance. 
A  suggestion  of  Benzinger's  may  be  helpful.  He  thinks 
that  in  the  original  scheme  of  the  Hebrew  the  fall  of 
Samaria  was  made  to  synchronize,  not  with  the  sixth  of 
Hezekiah,  but  with  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Ahaz 
(see  below).  If  this  view  be  accepted  we  possibly  do  not 
need  to  go  any  further  :  we  seem  to  have  come  on  a  stage 
of  the  redaction  in  which  the  event  coincided  with  the 
ninth  year  of  Ahaz^     The  editors  of  the  Greek  text  of 

^  Compare  2  K.  xiv.  23,  xiv.  2,  xv.  i,  8.  For  if  15th  Amaziah 
=  ist  Jeroboam,  then  ist  Azariah  (=29th  Amaziah)  =i5th 
Jeroboam;  and  38th  Azariah  =  52nd  Jeroboam.  To  reconcile 
XV.  8  with  the  forty-one  years'  reign  of  Jeroboam  we  should 
have  to  antedate  the  reign  of  Azariah  by  eleven  years,  i.  e. 
to  curtail  the  reign  of  his  father  by  that  amount. 

^  On    the   posaibility    of  an    ovcrlappijig  of  the   reigns  of 


Ii\TKODUCTION  43 

LXX  (L)  appear  to  have  dealt  with  the  problem  on  lines 
peculiar  to  themselves.  Jehu  is  there  said  to  have  begun 
to  reign  in  the  second  year  of  Athaliah,  thus  making  an 
int:erregnum  of  one  or  two  years  in  the  history  of  Israel  ; 
and  the  reign  of  Pekahiah  is  extended  from  two  years  to  ten. 
This  brings  the  Israelitish  series  (on  the  method  (a))  up 
to  153  or  154  years.  If  now  we  assume  as  before  that  the 
reign  of  Amaziah  has  to  be  shortened  by  eleven  years, 
the  difference  entirely  vanishes;  and  the  last  year  of 
Hoshea  coincides  with  the  sixth  of  Hezekiah.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  synchronisms  proper  to  this  system  have  been 
displaced  in  favour  of  those  in  our  Hebrew  text ;  so  that 
we  have  no  means  of  checking  the  results. 

In  the  third  period — from  the  fall  of  the  northern  to 
that  of  the  southern  kingdom— there  are  no  synchronisms 
to  assist  or  perplex  the  calculations ;  and  all  that  has  to 
be  done  for  the  chronology  is  to  compare  it  with  the  data 
derived  from  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  records. 

2.  Absolute  Chronology.  Thus  far  we  have  been  con- 
sidering only  the  internal  self-consistency  of  the  scheme 
as  it  must  be  supposed  to  have  passed  through  the  hands 
of  the  synchronists  at  a  certain  stage  of  the  redaction. 
We  must  now  go  on  to  compare  the  figures  with  the 
chronological  data  supplied  by  the  Assyrian  monuments. 
Here  we  naturally  begin  with  the  third  period,  which  is 
bounded  by  two  well-ascertained  dates  — the  fall  of 
Samaria  in  722  and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in 
587  B.C.  Now,  the  sum  of  the  reigns  from  the  accession 
of  Hezekiah  to  the  end  of  Zedekiah  is,  on  the  reckoning 
((3),  140  years;  on  the  reckoning  {b)^  133  years.  Hence 
the  accession  of  Hezekiah  would  be  on  the  one  reckoning 
727  B.  c,  and  on  the  other  720  B.  c.  The  first  result  agrees 
with  the  statement  of  2  K.  xviii.  10  that  Samaria  fell  in 

Azariah  and  Jotham,  see  below,  p.  45.  We  cannot  take  account 
of  it  here,  because  it  is  not  contemplated  in  the  sj^nchronistic 
scheme.  On  an  ingenious  attempt  by  Ruhl  to  solve  the 
difficulty,  sec  Appendix.  Note  III. 


44  I   AND   II    KINGS 

the  sixth  year  of  Hezekiah ;  and  it  is  quite  hkely  that 
that  synchronism  is  based  on  this  very  calculation.  But 
singularly  enough,  the  other  result  agrees  with  a  view 
maintained  on  independent  grounds  by  Winckler,  and 
adopted  by  several  recent  scholars,  viz.  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  Samaria  took  place  towards  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  Ahaz,  and  that  Hezekiah's  reign  actually  commenced 
in  720.  Which  view  is  correct  it  might  be  difficult  to 
say  ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  second  involves  least 
disturbance  of  the  traditional  data  of  the  Hebrew  text. 
We  shall  see  immediately  that  the  shorter  computation, 
on  which  it  rests,  gives  the  most  satisfactory  results  for 
the  earlier  periods  of  the  history,  and  is  therefore  to  be 
preferred.  Moreover,  the  date  720  for  the  accession  of 
Hezekiah  is  alone  consistent  with  the  traditional  ascrip- 
tion of  a  sixteen  years*  reign  to  Ahaz  :  if  we  were  to 
accept  the  date  727  it  would  be  necessary  to  shorten  the 
reign  of  Ahaz  to  about  eight  years.  Accordingly,  we  shall 
adopt  henceforth  the  shorter  Hebrew  method  of  reckoning 
(l>) ;  and  fix  the  accession  of  Hezekiah  in  720  B.  c. 

Proceeding  backwards,  we  pause  first  at  the  year  733, 
the  date  of  Tiglath-pileser's  expedition  against  Pekah 
(see  Notes,  p.  364) ;  which  must  have  taken  place  near 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Ahaz  and  near  the  end  of 
that  of  Pekah.  Let  us  put  it  tentatively  in  the  third  of 
Ahaz  and  the  last  but  one  of  Pekah.  This  puts  the 
accession  of  Ahaz  in  735,  which  harmonizes  with  2  K.  xvi. 
2,  where  Ahaz  is  said  to  have  reigned  sixteen  years.  But 
it  puts  back  the  death  of  Pekah  to  732 ;  and  so  makes 
it  necessary  to  assign  to  Hoshea  a  reign  of  eleven  years 
instead  of  nine  (2  K.  xvii.  i  :  see  further,  p.  374).  We  have 
now  obtained  a  new  point  of  departure,  which  to  some 
extent  neutralizes  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  accession  of 
Hezekiah  ;  but  the  next  step  backwards  reveals  a  more 
serious  error  in  the  Israelitish  reigns.  In  738  Menahem 
paid  tribute  to  Tiglath-pileser  (see  p.  362)  ;  so  that  in 
the  six  years  from  738-732  we  have  to  find  room  for 


INTRODUCTION  45 

part  of  the  reign  of  Menahem  and  the  whole  of  those  of 
Pekahiah  (two  years)  and  Pekah  (twenty  years).  There 
is  therefore  an  excess  of  more  than  fourteen  years,  which 
will  be  most  simply  adjusted  by  reducing  the  reign  of 
Pekah  to  four  years  (Hebrew  computation).  An  interval 
of  104  years  lies  between  this  and  the  next  earlier 
Assyrian  synchronism,  which  is  Jehu's  tribute  to  Shal- 
maneser  in  842  (see  p.  335).  For  reasons  which  will 
presently  appear,  it  is  necessary  to  put  the  incident  very 
near  the  beginning  of  Jehu's  reign :  let  us  assume  for 
r  c.v'jnience  of  calculation  that  he  came  to  the  throne  in 
843.  The  reigns  from  Jehu  to  Shallum  cover  ninety-eight 
years.  This  allows  seven  years  for  the  part  of  Menaheni's 
reign  preceding  738— a  perfectly  satisfactory  result.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  the  traditional  durations  of  the 
reigns  from  Jehu  to  Menahem  are  at  least  approximately 
correct. 

Passing  to  the  Judaean  series,  we  have  no  Assyrian 
synchronism  between  733  and  842  ^  Putting,  as  before, 
the  accession  of  Athaliah  in  843,  we  should  have  between 
this  and  the  accession  of  Ahaz  a  period  of  108  years,  for 
which  we  have  lengths  of  reign  amounting  to  139  years'', 
a  discrepancy  of  thirty-one  years.  We  have  no  means 
of  tracking  this  error  to  its  source  ;  but  the  system  which 
requires  least  alteration  of  the  numbers  in  the  Massoretic 
text  is  perhaps  that  of  P.  Rost,  in  KAT^,  p.  319  ff.  Rost 
divides  the  error  into  two  parts,  thus :  (i)  He  reduces  the 
reign  of  Amaziah  from  twenty-nine  years  (2  K.  xiv.  2)  to 
nine.  (2)  He  supposes  that  the  greater  part  of  the  reign  of 
Jotham  was  a  regency  during  his  father's  lifetime  (2  K.  xv. 
5),  and  that  he  ruled  independently  for  only  five  years 
(Hebrew  reckoning)  ^.    With  these  assumptions  we  obtain 

'  The  supposed  mention  of  Azariah  by  Tiglath-pileser  in 
738  is  now  generally  allowed  to  be  a  mistaken  identification ; 
see  p.  359. 

^  On  the  assumption  (justified  by  2  K.  xi.  4)  that  Athaliah 
reigned  six  full  years. 

•'  To  be  strictly  accurate,  Host's  theory  is  that  the  sixteen 


46  I    AND    II    KINGS 

a  perfect  correspondence  between  the  biblical  data  and 
those  of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions.  And  it  will  be  found 
that  the  scheme  fully  satisfies  the  condition  that  the 
reigns  of  Amaziah  of  Judah  and  Jehoash  of  Israel  must 
have  been  contemporaneous  (xiv.  8  f.). 

In  the  first  period— from  the  rebellion  of  the  ten  tribes 
to  the  revolution  of  Jehu — there  is  but  one  date  fixed  by 
Assyriology,  the  battle  of  Karkar,  in  which  Ahab  fought, 
in  854.  This  must  have  been  near  the  end  of  Ahab's 
reign;  but  it  requires  very  close  calculation  indeed  to 
find  time  for  the  subsequent  reigns  of  Ahaziah  ajjd 
Jehoram,  without  reducing  the  numbers  of  the  Hebrew 
text.  Rest  accomplishes  it,  however,  in  the  following 
manner :  he  supposes  the  battle  of  Karkar  to  have  been 
fought  in  the  spring  of  854,  and  the  battle  of  Ranioth- 
gilead  before  the  autumn  of  the  same  year.  It  is  thus 
just  possible  to  fit  in  the  twelve  years  of  Ahaziah  and 
Jehoram  before  843  ^  For  the  remainder  of  the  period 
we  have  no  means  of  strictly  controlling  the  dates.  The 
invasion  of  Shishak  would  yield  a  synchronism  with 
Egyptian  history  ;  and  the  relations  of  Solomon  and  Omri 
to  the  contemporary  kings  of  Tyre  furnish  points  of  con- 
tact with  the  Tyrian  annals ;  but  the  chronology  of  these 
countries    is    too  uncertain   to  be   of    much   service   in 


years  assigned  to  Jotham  (2  K.  xv.  33)  were  wholly  contem- 
poraneous with  Azariah.  but  that  his  total  reign  was  twenty 
years  :^s.e  xv.  30).  The  argument  here  is  rather  precarious  : 
but  the  important  point  is  that  the  reigns  of  Jotham  and 
Azariah  may  be  quite  naturally  supposed  to  have  overlapped 
for  an  indeterminate  period. 

*  See  Table  III.  Here  (following  Rost^  the  year  of  Ahab's 
death  and  Ahaziah 's  accession  is  given  as  855  B.C.  The 
explanation  of  this  apparent  contradiction  is  that  the  Hebrew 
year  was  reckoned  from  the  autumn,  while  the  Babylonian 
was  reckoned  from  the  spring.  The  year  of  Ahab's  death 
ran  from  the  autumn  of  855  to  the  autumn  of  854  :  whether 
we  call  it  855  or  854  is  merely  a  question  of  names.  The 
essential  point  in  the  calculation  is  that  the  death  of  Ahab  and 
the  battle  of  Karkar  must  fall  within  the  same  Hebrew  3'car. 


INTRODUCTION  47 

checking  the  figures  of  the  framework  of  Kings.  With 
regard  to  the  latter,  however,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
Winckler's  investigation  (based  on  extracts  from  the 
official  annals  preserved  by  Menander  of  Ephesus)  yields 
results  in  perfect  agreement  with  the  Hebrew  chronology. 
He  puts  the  reign  of  Hiram  I  about  968-935  B.  c,  and 
Ittobaal  I  (Ethbaal)  is  exactly  contemporary  with  Omri 
of  Israel  (887-876)  \ 

On  the  whole,  then,  it  may  be  said  that  the  examination 
is  surprisingly  favourable,  so  far  as  the  durations  of  the 
reigns  are  concerned,  to  the  soundness  of  the  Hebrew 
tradition.  The  details  are  given  in  the  accompanying 
Chronological  Table  (HI),  which  is  drawn  almost  entirely 
from  the  work  of  Rost  referred  to  above. 

^  See^^r^  p.  139. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLES 

N.B. — Tables  I  and  II  give  the  lengths  of  reign  and 
synchronisms  according  to  the  Hebrew  Text  and  the 
LXX  respectively.  The  figures  in  heavy  type  are  those 
common  to  the  two  versions ;  those  peculiar  to  the 
Hebrew  are  in  plain  type;  those  peculiar  to  the  LXX 
in  italics. 

Table  III  ignores  the  synchronisms,  and  gives  (i)  the 
years  B.  C.  of  the  various  reigns  according  to  the  amended 
Hebrew  text  (after  Rost),  and  (2)  the  dates  fixed  by 
Assyrian  inscriptions. 


INTRODUCTION 


49 


TABLE   I. 
Synchronisms,  etc.,  of  the  Hebrew  Text. 


Length 

of  Reign. 

Year  of  Accession  in 
contemp.  Reign— 

Judah. 

Israel. 

Of  Israel. 

Of  Judah. 

17 

22 

Rehoboam 
Jeroboam 

3 
41 

Abijam    .     .     ,     .     - 

18th 

Asa    ...     . 

20th 

2 

Nadab    .     . 

2nd 

24 

Baasha  .     . 

3rd 

2 

Elah  .     .     . 

26th 

7  days 

Zimri      .     .     . 

27th 

12 
22 

Omri . 

31st 
38th 

Ahab.     .     . 

25 

Jehoshaphat     . 

4th 

2 

Ahaziah .     . 

17th 

12 

Jehoram     .     . 

i8th 

8 

Jehoram .     . 

6tli 

1 

Ahaziah  . 

I2th 

95 

98 

6 

28 

Athaliah 
Jehu 

40 

Jehoash  

7tli 

17 

Jehoahaz     . 

23rd     1 

16 

Jehoash .     . 

37th 

29 

41 

Amaziah .     .     . 
Jeroboam   II 

2nd 

15th 

52 

6  mo. 
1  mo. 

10 
2 

20 

Azariah  .     .     . 
Zechariah    . 
Shallum 
Menahem    . 
Pekahiah     . 
Pekah     .     . 

27tli 

38th 
39th 
39th 
50th 
52nd 

16 

Jotham    .     .     . 

2nd 

16 

9 

Ahaz  .... 
Hoshea  .     . 

17  th 

12th 

6 

Hezekiah     .     . 

3rd 

i 

i6s 

144 

Fall  of  Samari 

a. 

50  I   AND    II    KINGS 

TABLE   II. 
Synchronisms,  etc.,  according  to  LXX. 


_    '  _ 

Year  of  Accession  in 

Lengtii  of  Reign. 

contenip.  Reign—     | 

Jiidah. 

Israel. 

Of  Israel. 

Ofjudali. 

IV^ 

22?- 

Rehoboam 
Jeroboam 

! 

6 

Abijam 

18th 

41 

8 

24 

2 

7  days^* 
12 

Asa     .     .     . 
Nadab    . 
Baasha  . 
Elah  .     . 
Zimri 
Omri.     . 

2m 

2nd 

3rd 

20th 

22nd^ 

31st 

25 

22 
2 

Jehoshaphat 
Ahab .     . 
Ahaziah . 

lUh 

2nd    \ 
2ith^ 

8' 

12 

Jehoram.     . 
Jehoram 

5th 

2nd-' 

1 

Ahaziah  .     . 

lltir^ 

98 

98 

6 

2 

Athaliah 

Inten-egmmt  ^ 

28 

Jehu 

2nd' 

40 

17 
16 

Jehoash  .     . 
Jehoahaz 
Jehoash  . 

7th 

23rd 
37th 

29 

41 

Amaziah. 
Jeroboam  I 

2xid 

15th 

52 

6  mo. 
Imo.'' 

10 

10' 

20 

Azariah  .     . 
Zechariah 
Shallum . 
Menahem 
Pekahiah 
Pekah     . 

27th 

38th 
39th 
39th 
50th 
52nd 

16 

Jotham   •     . 

2ixd 

16 

9 

Ahaz .     .     . 
Hoshea  . 

17th 

12th 

6 

Hezekiah     . 

1       3rd 

165 

154 

Fall  of  Sams 

irii 

I. 

>  B  (in  xii.  24a)  gives  \2  years.  -  Not  in  original  T,XX.  ^  b  has 

7  SM.rs:  *  Luc.  only  :   B  omits.  Luc.  only  :  B  agrees  with  Hcb. 

«  So  Luc.  :  B  ha:,  40!      "  Luc.  (cf.  i  K.  i.  17.  Hcb.) :  B  has  l8th.     *  Luc. 
only.        *  B  omits. 


INTRODUCTION 


5^ 


TABLE    III. 

Chronology  of  the  Kings  of  Judah  and  Israel,  with 
Assyrian  and  Babylonian  Synchronisms. 


r    Year  of 

Length 
of  Reign. 

1 

;  Accession, 
1         B.C. 

Monuments. 

B.C. 

971 

Solomon  .... 

40 

932 

Rehoboain.    .     . 

17 

932 

Jeroboain  I 

HI 

916 

Abijam  .     .     . 

3 

914 

Asa   .... 

41 

913 

Nadab  .     . 

2 

911 

Baasha.     . 

24 

888 

Elah.    .     . 

2 

887 

Zimri,  Omri 

12 

876 

Ahab     .    . 

22 

874 

Jehoshaphat  . 

^5 

855 

Ahaziah     . 

2 

Battle  of  Kaikar>  .    .    . 

854 

854 

Jehoram    . 

12 

8.?o 

Ji'horam      .     . 

8 

843 

Ahaziah.    .    . 

I 

1 

843 

Jehu.    .     . 

28 

Jehu's  tribute  to  Assyria  \ 

842 

843 

Athaliah     .    . 

73 

837 

Jehoash ,     .     . 

40 

816 

Jehoahaz   . 
Jehoash     . 

17 

800 

i6 

798 

Amaziah    .    . 

91 

790 

Azariah .    .     . 

.52 

785 

Jeroboam  11 

41 

749 

Jotham  (with  Azariah) 

h^ 

745 

Zechariah,  Shallum 

7  mo. 

745 

Menahem  .... 

10 

739 

Jotham  (alone) 

55 

Menahem  pays  tribute ' 

738 

736 

Pekahiah  . 

2 

7i5 
735 

Ahaz.     .    .    . 

16 

Pekah    .     . 

47 

Galilee    depopulated    by 

Tiglath-pileser».      .     . 

733 

732 

Hoshea 

//» 

Assyrians  capture  Damas- 

cus^o 

Fall  of  Samaria"  .    .    . 

732 
732 

720 

Hezekiah 

29 

Sennacherib's  Invasion '-. 

701 

692 

Manasseh 

55 

Z 

Amon 

3 

Josiah 

31 

667 

Jehoahaz {     3  ino. 

607 

Jehoiakim ]        11 

Battle  of  Carcheniish  •'   . 

605 

597 

jehoiachin 3  mo. 

597 

Zedekiali u 

Fall  of  Jerusalem  1'      .    . 

587 

NB.  Italic  figures  are  used  to  mark  lengths  of  reign  which  have  been  altered 
from  the  Hebrew. 


^  »  See  p.  243  f.  -''  p.  45. 

'"p.  369.'  "pp.  43.  372 


'  PP-45,  347;  cf.  2  K.  xi.  3,  4. 
pp.  45,  360.         '^  pp.  44,  362.  PP:.45.  365- 


'•^  p.  385*. 
E    2 


p.  364- 
p.  427. 


'  P-  4,v 
pp.44,  373 f. 
pp.  430,  433. 


52  1  AND   II   KINGS 


NOTATION   OF  SOURCES 

A.  Extracts  from  the  Annals  of  the  reign  of  Solomon  (in 
1  K.  iii-x).     See  page  8i  f. 

C.  Court  history  of  David— the  main  source  of  i  K.  i,  ii. 

Page  57. 

D.  Passages  assigned  to  the  Deuteronomic  Compiler  of 

Kings  (including  the  *  Framework  ').     Pages  12,  14. 

D  ^  Passages  assigned  to  the  second  Deuteronomic  Editor. 
Page  21. 

Ej.  Passages  from  the  Biography  of  Elijah  (in  i  K.  xvii  ff.). 
Page  28. 

Es.  Passages  from  the  Biography  of  Elisha  (in  2  K.  ii  ff.). 
Page  28. 

I.  A  I '.  Passages  from  the  Biography  of  Isaiah  (in  2  K.  xviii- 
xx).    Page  29. 

J.  Judaean  Narratives  (in  2  K.  xii,  xvi,  xxii  f.).    Page  29. 

KI.  Excerpts  from  the  *  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the 
Kings  of  Israel.*    Pages  23,  26. 

KJ.  Excerpts  from  the  '  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the 
Kings  of  Judah.'    Pages  23,  26. 

N.  Northern  Narratives,  for  the  period  from  Ahab  to  Jehu 
(i  K.  XX,  &c.).     Page  28. 

P.  Glosses  of  an  Editor  occupying  the  standpoint  of  the 
Priestly  Code.     Page  31. 

S.  Extracts  from  the  '  Book  of  the  Acts  of  Solomon '  (in 
I  K.  iii-xi).     Page  82. 

T.  Account  of  the  Temple  and  Palace  Buildings  (i  K.  vi, 
vii).     Pages  82,  103. 

Z.  Post-Redactional      Additions      and      Interpolations. 
Page  30  ff. 

P  Passages  of  uncertain  Character  or  Origin. 


INTRODUCTION  53 


LIST   OF   WORKS  MOST   FREQUENTLY 
REFERRED   TO,   WITH   ABBREVIATIONS. 

LXX.     The   Greek   translation   of  the  Old  Testament 
(Septuagint).     See  p.  33  if. 
LXX  (B).     Swete's  edition  of  the  same  (1887),  reproducing 

the  Text  of  the  Vatican  MS.  (B). 
LXX  (L).     Lagarde's  edition— Ltbrorum  Veteris  Testamettti 
Canonicornm  Pars  Prior  Graece  (1883)— giving 
the  supposed  text  of  the  Recension  of  Lucian. 
See  p.  36. 
JoSEPHUS^,  Ant.  :  Flavius  Josephus,  Jewish  Antiquities. 
Bell.  Jud.  :  ,.  On  the  Jewish  War. 

cont.  Ap. '.  ,,  Against  Apion. 

Thenius,  O.,  Die  Biicher  der  Konige  erkldrt,  2nd  ed.  (1873). 
Klostermann,  a.,  Die  Biicher  Samuelis  tind  der  Konige 
(1887). 

Benzinger,  L,  Die  Biicher  der  Konige  erkldrt  (1899). 
KiTTEL,  R.,  Die  Biicher  der  Konige  Ubersetzt  mid  erkldrt  (1900). 
Farrar,  F.  W.,  TTie  First  (Second)  Book  of  Kings  (Expositor's 
Bible)  (1883-94). 

Burney,  C.  F.,  Notes  on  the  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Books  of 
Kings  (1903). 

Driver,  S.  R.,  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old 
Testament,  6th  ed.  (1897). 

KuENEN,  A.,  Historisch-cn'tisch  Onderzoek  naar  het  Ontstaan 
en  de  Verzatnelir\g  van  de  Boeken  des  Ouden  Verbonds,  Part  I 
(1887). 

Wellhausen,  J.,  Die  Composition  des  Hexateuchs  und  der 
historischen  Biicher.,  2nd  ed.  (1889). 

Wellhausen,  J.,  Israelitische  und  Jiidische  Geschichte,  3rd  ed. 
(1897). 

EwALD,  H.,  The  History  of  Israel— Eng}.  Trans.,  2nd  ed. 
Chiefly  vol.  iv.  (1878). 

WiNCKLER,  H.,  Alttestamentliche  Untersuchungen  (1892). 
Stade,  B.,  Akademische  Reden  und  Abhandlungen  (1899), 
pp.    143  ff.    (Der  Text  des  Berichtes  iiber   Salomos   Bauten. 
I  KOn.  5-7  ;   Anmerkungen  zu  2  KOn.  10-14  5   Anmerkungen 
zu  2  KOn.  15-21). 

^  References  are  to  Niese's  edition  (i887-95\ 


54  I    AND   II    KINGS 

Benzinger,  I.,  Hebn'nsc/ie  A rc/id'ologte  (i8g^^. 

Smith,  G.  A.,  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land  (1894^ 

Buhl,  F.,  Geographic  des  alten  Paldstina  (1896). 

HiLPRECHT,  H.  v.,  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands  during  the 
Nineteenth  Century  (1903). 

OTJC-,     Smith,  W.  R.,  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish 
Church,  and  ed.  (1892). 
„  The  Prophets   of  Israel,   2nd  ed. 

(1895).. 
„  The  Religion  of  the  Semites,  2nd  ed, 

(1894). 

KIB.     ScHRADER,  E. ,  Keilinschrtftliche  Biblioihek  ( 1 889-) . 

COT.  The  Cuneiform  Insm'ptions  and  the  Old  Testament. 
Translation  by  O.  C.  Whitehouse  of  the  2nd  ed. 
of  E.  Schrader's  Die  Keilinschnfien  und  das 
Alte  Testament  (1883).  The  references  are  to 
the  pages  of  the  German  edition,  which  are 
numbered  on  the  margin  of  the  Engh'sh. 

KA  T^.     3rd  German  edition  of  the  same  work,  by  H.  Zim- 
mern  and  H.  Winckler  (1902-3). 

CIS.  Corpus  Insa'iptionum  Scmiticarum. 

ZA .  Zeitsch  rift  fit  r  A  ssyriologte. 

ZA  TW.  Zeitschrift  fiir  Alttestamentliche  Wissenschaft. 

DB.  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  edited  by  J.  Hastings,  D.  D. 

EB.     Encyclopaedia  Bihlica,  edited  bv    T.   K.    Cheyne, 
D.D..  and  I.  S.  Black.  LL.D. 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE   KINGS 


REVISED  VERSION   WITH   ANNOTATIONS 


THE 

FIRST  BOOK  OF  THE  KINGS 

[C]  Now  king  David  was  old  and  stricken  in  years ;  1 

i,  ii.  The  Accession  of  Solomon. 
According  to  the  present  arrangement  of  the  text  these  two 
chapters  form  an  appropriate  introduction  to  the  account  of 
Solomon's  reign  in  chs.  iii-xi ;  and  this  was  certainly  the  intention 
of  the  editor  who  separated  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  ^  In 
its  original  context,  however,  the  narrative  belonged  to  the  history 
of  David  rather  than  to  that  of  Solomon.  It  continues  the  long 
account  of  David's  court  affairs  which  we  find  in  2  Sam.  ix-xx  ; 
and  in  the  primary  document  from  which  it  was  taken  it  must 
have  been  the  immediate  sequel  of  these  chapters.  That  document 
is  amongst  the  best  specimens  of  Hebrew  historical  writing  which 
we  possess.  It  is  evidently  written  from  first-hand  information 
about  the  course  of  events,  and  with  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
manners  and  inner  life  of  the  court.  The  narrative  is  full  of  life 
and  colour,  the  style  is  graphic  and  lucid,  the  obscurity  in  which 
some  important  points  are  involved  being  due  to  the  author's 
familiarity  with  scenes  and  conditions  which  are  imperfectly 
understood  by  us.  The  writer's  treatment  of  his  subject  is  marked 
by  singular  impartiality  and  independence  ;  he  allows  facts  to 
speak  for  themselves ;  and  it  is  only  by  reading  between  the  lines, 
and  imputing  to  him  a  subtlety  of  which  he  was  probably  innocent, 
that  modern  commentators  fancy  they  can  discover  indications  of 
his  own  personal  bias.  The  passage  falls  naturally  into  three 
main  divisions  :  (i)  ch.  i ;   (2)  ch.  ii.  1-12  ;  and  (3)  ch.  ii.  13-46. 

(i)  i.  The  Contest  for  the  Succession. 
In  order  to  understand  the  situation  we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
the  succession  to  the  crown  was  as  yet  unregulated  either  by 
principle  or  precedent.  There  were  perhaps  three  views  current. 
( i)  The  idea  that  the  monarchy  was  elective.  Saul  and  David  had 
both  been  elected  by  representatives  of  the  people,  and  although 
this  idea  nowhere  appears  in  the  narrative  before  us  it  had  not 
fallen  altogether  into  desuetude  ;  for  on  the  death  of  Solomon  an 

^  See  Introd.  p.  4.  In  Lagarde's  edition  of  the  Lucianic  recen- 
sion of  the  LXX  the  third  book  of  '  Kingdoms'  commences  at  ii.  12 
of  the  Hebrew  (and  English)  text. 


58  I  KINGS  1.  2.     C 

and  they  covered  him  with  clothes,  but  he  gat  no  heat. 
Wherefore  his  servants  said  unto  him,  Let  there  be 
sought  for  my  lord  the  king  a  young  virgin  :  and  let  her 
stand  before  the  king,  and  cherish  him ;  and  let  her  lie 

attempt  was  again  made  by  the  northern  tribes  to  assert  the 
principle  of  an  elective  monarchy.  (2)  The  law  oi primogeniture^ 
firmly  established  in  Hebrew  jurisprudence,  created  a  strong  pre- 
sumption in  favour  of  the  oldest  son  of  the  previous  king  as  we 
see  from  the  case  of  Jonathan).  (3)  At  the  same  time  the  king's 
right  to  nominate  his  successor  was  generally  recognized  (i.  20,  27). 
The  confusions  here  described  arose  from  the  conflict  of  the 
second  and  third  of  these  principles.  As  the  oldest  surviving  son 
of  David,  Adonijah  naturally  looked  on  himself  as  the  heir  to  the 
throne,  and  was  accepted  as  such  by  the  people  (ii.  15).  On  the 
other  hand,  David  had  determined  that  Solomon  should  succeed 
him  ;  although  a  promise  to  that  effect  is  nowhere  recorded,  and 
apparently  no  steps  had  been  taken  to  make  it  public. — That  is 
the  prima  facie  sense  of  the  narrative  ;  and  it  may  fairly  claim  to 
be  the  view  which  the  historian  intended  to  present,  and  which 
he  himself  honestly  held.  It  is  maintained,  indeed,  by  some 
eminent  critics  that  the  author  favoured  the  cause  of  Adonijah, 
believing  Solomon's  pretensions  to  be  absolutely  unfounded  ;  and 
that  he  reveals  the  true  state  of  the  case  by  letting  it  appear  that 
the  alleged  promise  to  Bath-sheba  was  an  invention  of  Solomon's 
partisans  imposed  on  the  enfeebled  memory  of  the  king.  For 
reasons  stated  below,  that  theory  is  here  rejected  as  inherentli* 
improbable  and  inconsistent  with  the  straightforward  simplicity 
of  the  narration. 

i.  1-4.  David's  decrepit  old  age.  The  narrative  of  2  Sam.  xx 
is  here  resumed  after  an  interval  of  perhaps  a  few  years.  The 
verses  contain  a  short  description,  necessary  to  the  understanding 
of  what  follows,  of  the  state  of  matters  at  David's  court  during 
the  last  months  of  his  life.  The  sudden  collapse  of  the  king's 
strength  is  represented  as  due  to  senile  decay.  His  actual  age 
appears  from  ch.  ii.  ii,  2  Sam.  v.  4  f.  to  have  been  only  a  little  over 
seventy  years.  There  is  nothing  very  extraordinary  in  a  failure  of 
bodily  vigour  at  that  time  of  life  ;  and  certainly  no  need  for  the 
odious  explanations  sometimes  put  forward  to  account  for  it.  The 
subsequent  narrative  nowhere  implies  that  the  king's  mental 
powers  were  enfeebled. 

1.  old  and  stricken  in  years  :  '  an  old  man  advanced  in  years  ' 
(lit.  'days').  For  the  expression  cf.  Hen.  xviii.  n,  xxiv.  i; 
Joshua  xiii.  i,  xxiii.  i,  2. 

2.  On  the  '  primitive  and  not  ineffectual  remedy '  here  proposed 


I  KINCiS  1.  3-5.     C  59 

in  thy  bosom,  that  my  lord  the  king  may  get  heat.     So  ?, 
they  sought  for  a  fair  damsel  throughout  all  the  coasts  of 
Israel,  and  found  Abishag  the  Shunammite,  and  brought 
her  to  the  king.     And  the  damsel  was  very  fair ;  and  she  4 
cherished  the  king,  and  ministered  to  him ;  but  the  king 
knew  her   not.     Then   Adonijah  the   son   of  Haggith  5 
exalted  himself,  saying,  I  will  be  king  :  and  he  prepared 

the  reader  may  consult  the  references  in  Farrar,  Books  0/  Kings, 
i.  p.  6a. 

3.  Abishag'  the  Shunammite:  a  native  of  Shunem,  the 
modem  village  ofSolam,  about  five  miles  north  of  Jezreel,  situated 
on  a  hill-slope  looking  south-west  over  the  valley  of  Esdraelon. 
It  has  been  imagined  that  Abishag's  beauty  became  traditional, 
and  suggested  long  afterwards  the  title  '  Shulammite '  for  the 
heroine  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  (Cant.  vi.   13). 

4.  the  long  knew  her  not.  The  clause  is  commonly  supposed 
to  refer  to  Adonijah's  later  desire  to  possess  Abishag,  and  to  have 
been  written  to  clear  him  in  advance  of  the  suspicion  of  thereby 
aiming  at  the  throne  (see  on  ii.  17).  It  is  doubtful  if  the  words 
could  cover  any  such  motive. 

i.  5-8.  Adonijah's  pretensions  to  the  crown.  Adonijah  was  the 
fourth  of  David's  sons,  born  in  Hebron  (2  Sam.  iii.  4 ;  i  Chron. 
iii.  2),  and  therefore  at  this  time  about  thirt3'-five  3'ears  of  age. 
After  the  deaths  of  Amnon  and  Absalom,  he  was  the  oldest  survivor 
of  the  royal  family,  the  second  son,  Chileab  (2  Sam.  iii.  3,  or  Daniel, 
I  Chron.  iii.  i),  having  apparently  died  young.  Of  his  ;;nother 
Haggith  nothing  is  known.  Resolved  to  keep  his  claims  well  in 
the  eye  of  the  public,  the  prince  follows  the  example  of  Absalom 
in  the  assumption  of  semi-royal  state.  He  forms  a  party  in  the 
court,  his  chief  supporters  being  Joab,  the  commander-in-chief, 
and  Abiathar  the  priest — two  of  David's  most  loyal  followers. 
On  what  grounds  these  men  supported  Adonijah  we  cannot 
conjecture  ;  they  may  have  honestly  believed  that  he  was  the 
fittest  candidate,  and  that  they  were  acting  in  the  true  interests 
of  the  dynasty.  They  knew  at  all  events  that  there  was  a  party 
opposed  to  Adonijah,  from  whose  leaders  they  carefully  concealed 
their  plans. 

5.  exalted  himself  .  .  .  king :  or,  perhaps,  '  was  puffing  him- 
self up  with  the  notion  that  he  was  to  be  king.'  The  form  of 
expression  in  the  original  does  not  suggest  a  sudden  resolve  on 
Adonijah's  part  to  seize  the  throne  prematurely,  but  rather  a  fixed 
idea  in  his  mind  that  the  succession  was  legitimately  his  (\\.  15^. 
Nothing  more  than  this  is  involved  in  the  procuring  of  chariots 


6o  I  KINGS  1.  6-9.     C 

him  chariots  and  horsemen,  and  fifty  men  to  run  before 

6  him.  And  his  father  had  not  displeased  him  at  any 
time  in  saying,  Why  hast  thou  done  so  ?  and  he  was  also 
a  very  goodly  man;   and  he  was  born  after  Absalom. 

7  And  he  conferred  with  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah,  and 
with  Abiathar  the  priest:  and  they  following  Adonijah 

8  helped  him.  But  Zadok  the  priest,  and  Benaiah  the 
son  of  Jehoiada,  and  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  Shimei, 
and  Rei,  and  the  mighty  men  which  belonged  to  David, 

9  were  not  with  Adonijah.     And  Adonijah  slew  sheep  and 

and  horsemen,  &c.  ;  it  is  of  a  piece  with  the  conduct  which 
David  had  tolerated  for  four  years  in  the  case  of  Absalom 
(2  Sam.  XV.  I,  7). 

to  run  before  him :  '  runners,'  i.  e.  footguards. 
6.  had  not  displeased  (pv  pained)  him  (all  his  life,  marg.) : 
had  allowed  him  to  do  as  he  pleased.     LXX  inserts  a  similar 
remark  about  the  training  of  Amnon  in  2  Sam.  xiii.  21. 

and  he  was  also  :  better,  '  and  he  also  was ' — like  Absalom 
(2  Sam.  xiv.  25).  The  verse  thus  gives  three  explanations  of  the 
presumptuous  behaviour  of  Adonijah — the  foolish  indulgence  of 
his  father,  his  handsome  figure,  and  his  seniority. 

8.  Zadok,  colleague  and  rival  of  Abiathar  in  the  priesthood,  is 
first  mentioned  in  2  Sam.  viii.  17,  then  in  xv.  243*.,  as  custodian 
of  the  ark  ;  Benaiah  was  commander  of  the  household  troops 
(2  Sam.  viii.  18) ;  while  Kathan  is  the  well-known  prophet.  Of 
Shimei,  and  Bei,  nothing  is  known  ;  the  text  is  very  uncertain. 

the  migfhty  men:  Heb.  GibborUn  (heroes).  These  were 
probably  David's  old  comrades  in  arms  (see  2  Sam.  xxiii.  8ff.), 
who  formed  a  sort  of  bodyguard,  and  naturally  had  a  position  of 
influence  in  the  court.  That  they  were  identical  with  the  Krethi 
and  Plethi  (see  on  verse  38),  as  is  thought  by  some,  is  a  view  for 
which  little  evidence  can  be  adduced. 

i.  9,  ID.  The  proclamation  of  Adonijah.  The  outcome  of  the 
conferences  with  Joab  and  Abiathar  seems  to  have  been  a  project 
to  precipitate  matters  by  at  once  proclaiming  Adonijah  king.  The 
sacrificial  feast  described  in  the  verses  can  hardly  have  any  other 
meaning  than  this  :  it  is  so  represented  by  Nathan,  not  only  in 
his  interview  with  the  king  (verse  25),  but  also  in  his  conversation 
with  Bath-sheba  (verse  11) ;  and  there  are  no  sufficient  grounds 
for  the  suspicion  that  he  wilfully  exaggerated  the  significance  of 
the  incident.     The  feast  took  place  at  some  ancient  sanctuarj'  of 


I  KINGS  1.  10,11.     C  61 

oxen  and  failings  by  the  stone  of  Zoheleth,  which  is 
beside    En-rogel;   and   he   called   all  his   brethren    the 
king's  sons,  and  all  the  men  of  Judah  the  king's  servants  : 
but  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  Benaiah,  and  the  mighty  10 
men,  and  Solomon  his  brother,  he  called  not.     Then  11 
Nathan  spake  unto  Bath-sheba  the  mother  of  Solomon, 

Jerusalem  (W.  R.  Smith,  Rel.  of  Sent?  p.  172,  n.  3),  where  there 
was  a  sacred  stone  (Zoheleth)  and  a  sacred  well  (En-rogel). 

9.  En-rogel  has  been  usually  identified  with  the  so-called  Well 
of  Job  (Bty-^Eyyilb),  south  of  the  city,  at  the  junction  of  the  Kidron 
and  Hinnom  valleys.  A  good  many  recent  writers  (following 
Clermont-Ganneau)  take  tlie  stone  of  Zoheleth  (i.  e.  the  Serpent's 
stone)  to  be  the  modern  ez-Zehweleh,  a  rock-hewn  stair  in  the  face 
of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  right  opposite  and  quite  near  to  the 
Virgin's  Spring  (see  on  verse  33)  ;  in  which  case  En-rogel  must  be 
the  Virgin's  Spring  itself.  But  it  is  plain  from  this  chapter  that 
if  En-rogel  be  the  Virgin's  Spring,  Gihon  must  be  sought  else- 
where ;  and  the  identification  of  Gihon  with  the  Virgin's  Spring 
rests  on  stronger  grounds  than  that  of  Zoheleth  with  ez-Zehweleh. 
There  remains  of  course  the  possibility  that  in  the  environs  of 
ancient  Jerusalem  there  may  have  been  other  springs  which  are 
now  dried  up. 

all  the  men  of  Judah,  &c.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  both 
Absalom  and  Adonijah  seem  to  have  relied  most  on  David's  own 
tribesmen  for  support  to  their  treasonable  designs. 

i.  1 1 -14.  The  counterplot  in  favour  of  Solomon.  The  moving 
spirit  is  Nathan,  who  had  been  David's  prophetic  adviser  from  an 
early  period  of  his  reign  in  Jerusalem  (2  Sam.  vii),  and  through 
whom  the  name  Jedidiah  is  said  in  2  Sam.  xii.  25  to  have  been 
conferred  on  Solomon.  The  traditional  view  that  he  had  super- 
intended the  education  of  Solomon  rests  on  a  misinterpretation  of 
that  verse,  as  if  it  read,  *  he  (David)  gave  him  into  the  hand  of 
Nathan.'  Partiality  for  a  favourite  pupil  cannot,  therefore,  have 
been  the  motive  of  Nathan's  action  ;  the  simplest  explanation  is 
probably  the  best,  viz.  that  he  was  aware  of  David's  decision  in 
favour  of  Solomon  and  approved  of  it.  It  is  true  that  there  is  no 
record  of  such  a  decision  in  the  previous  history  ;  and  the  question 
is  much  discussed  whether  it  be  not  a  pure  invention  vVhich 
Nathan  and  Bath-sheba  succeeded  in  palming  off  on  the  credulity 
of  the  king.  That  theory  is  no  doubt  capable  of  being  presented 
with  some  plausibility  ;  but  in  truth  the  situation  is  more  intelli- 
gible on  the  assumption  that  the  promise  was  really  given.  The 
central  fact  is  the  formation  of  a  party  in  the  interest  of  Solomon 


62  I  KINGS  1.  12-15.     C 

saying,  Hast  thou  not  heard  that  Adonijah  the  son  of 
Haggith  doth  reign,  and  David  our  lord  knoweth  it  not  ? 

12  Now  therefore  come,  let  me,  I  pray  thee,  give  thee 
counsel,  that  thou  mayest  save  thine  own  life,  and  the 

13  life  of  thy  son  Solomon.  Go  and  get  thee  in  unto  king 
David,  and  say  unto  him,  Didst  not  thou,  my  lord, 
O  king,  swear  unto  thine  handmaid,  saying,  Assuredly 
Solomon  thy  son  shall  reign  after  me,  and  he  shall  sit 

14  upon  my  throne  ?  why  then  doth  Adonijah  reign  ?  Be- 
hold, while  thou  yet  talkest  there  with  the  king,  I  also 

15  will  come  in  after  thee,  and  confirm  thy  words.  And 
Bath-sheba  went  in  unto  the  king  into  the  chamber: 

(verse  8),  v^rhose  pretensions  to  the  throne  must  have  rested 
solely  on  a  nomination  by  his  father.  How  could  such  a  party 
justify  its  existence  ?  It  must  at  least  have  given  ok/ that  Solomon 
had  been  privately  nominated,  so  that  if  there  be  fraud  in  the  case 
it  must  be  of  somewhat  older  standing  than  the  theory  supposes, 
though  in  fact  the  writer  gives  no  hint  that  the  suspicion  of  fraud 
was  in  his  mind  at  all.  The  opposite  faction  may  have  disbelieved 
the  statement,  but  could  hardly  have  known  it  to  be  false ;  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  historian  adopted  their  view. 
We  have  therefore  to  consider  which  of  two  things  is  less 
improbable — that  the  younger  son,  without  a  shadow  of  right, 
should  challenge  the  position  of  the  older  ;  or  that  the  natural 
heir  should  seek  to  assert  his  claims  against  an  alleged  arbitrary 
nomination  by  the  reigning  monarch.  The  difficulty  of  the  latter 
alternative  is  further  diminished  by  the  fact  that  David  had 
obviously  lacked  the  courage  to  promulgate  his  decision  ;  and  that 
again  is  in  keeping  with  the  weak  indulgence  he  had  always 
shown  to  his  older  children,  and  to  Adonijah  in  particular  (verse  6). 

11.  Adonijah  . . .  doth  reigrn:  '  hath  become  king.'   See  verse  25. 

12.  save  thine  own  life  .  .  . :  by  defeating  the  scheme  of 
Adonijah,  whose  first  step,  if  successful,  would  be  to  remove  his 
rival  and  enemies. 

14.  and  confirm  thy  words :  not  about  the  alleged  oath  (which 
Nathan  did  not  confirm),  but  the  statement  that  Adonijah  had  been 
proclaimed  (verse  25). 

i.  15-21.  Bath-sheba's  intcyvieiv  with  the  king.  Bath-sheba's 
presentation  of  the  case  seems  less  subtle  than  that  suggested  to 
her  by  Nathan.     Instead  of  asking,  '  Why  has  Adonijah  become 


I  KINGS  1.  16-21.     C  6$ 

and  the  king  was  very  old;  and  Abishag  the  Shunam- 
niite  ministered  unto  the  king.     And  Bath-sheba  bowed,  16 
and  did  obeisance  unto  the  king.     And  the  king  said, 
What  wouldest  thou  ?    And  she  said  unto  him,  My  lord,  1 7 
thou  swarest  by  the  Lord  thy  God  unto  thine  handmaid, 
sayings  Assuredly  Solomon  thy  son  shall  reign  after  me, 
and  he  shall  sit  upon  my  throne.     And  now,  behold,  18 
Adonijah  reigneth ;  and  thou,  my  lord  the  king,  knowest 
it  not :  and  he  hath  slain  oxen  and  fatlings  and  sheep  in  19 
abundance,  and  hath  called  all  the  sons  of  the  king,  and 
Abiathar  the  priest,  and  Joab  the  captain  of  the  host : 
but  Solomon  thy  servant  hath  he  not  called.     And  thou,  20 
my  lord  the  king,  the  eyes  of  all  Israel  are  upon  thee, 
that  thou  shouldest  tell  them  who  shall  sit  on  the  throne 
of  my  lord  the  king  after  him.     Otherwise  it  shall  come  21 
to  pass,  when  my  lord  the  king  shall  sleep  with  his 
fathers,  that  I  and  my  son  Solomon  shall  be  counted 


king  ? '  (verse  13),  as  if  to  insinuate  that  David  must  somehow  be 
responsible,  she  simply  states  the  fact,  and  assumes  that  the  king 
is  ignorant  of  it.  Her  allusion  to  the  oath  w^ith  regard  to  Solomon 
is  also  perfectly  direct  and  straightforward  ;  and  both  lead  up  to 
the  appeal  to  the  king  to  give  effect  to  his  former  purpose,  and 
save  her  and  her  son  from  the  fate  that  threatens  them. 

18.  and  thou  .  .  .  knowest  it  not.  Not  a  surprised  interroga- 
tion, but  a  circumstantial  clause  =  '  without  the  knowledge  of  my 
lord  the  king.'  The  marginal  reading  'and  now  *  {'attd  for  'atid), 
though  supported  by  Hebrew  MSS.,  is  inferior,  and  is  unknown 
to  the  ancient  Versions. 

20.  There  is  more  to  be  said  for  the  marginal  'now'  in  this 
verse  :  the  king  must  now  decide  whether  he  will  fulfil  his  oath 
by  making  known  his  will,  or  supinely  acquiesce  in  Adonijah's 
usurpation. 

21.  The  connexion  is  obscure  in  the  original,  but  is  probably 
correctly  expressed  by  the  otherwise  of  R.V.  :  '  in  the  event 
of  no  decided  action  being  taken  by  the  king,  it  shall  come  to 
pass,*  &c. 

shall  be  counted  offenders  :  lit.  '  shall  be  sinners.'     In  early 
religion  the  sinfulness  of  an  action  is  not  determined  solely  by 


64  I  KINGS  1.  22-27.     C 

22  offenders.     And,  lo,  while  she  yet  talked  with  the  king, 

23  Nathan  the  prophet  came  in.  And  they  told  the  king, 
saying,  Behold,  Nathan  the  prophet.  And  when  he  was 
come  in  before  the  king,  he  bowed  himself  before  the 

24  king  with  his  face  to  the  ground.  And  Nathan  said,  My 
lord,  O  king,  hast  thou  said,  Adonijah  shall  reign  after 

25  me,  and  he  shall  sit  upon  my  throne?  For  he  is  gone 
down  this  day,  and  hath  slain  oxen  and  fatlings  and 
sheep  in  abundance,  and  hath  called  all  the  king's  sons, 
and  the  captains  of  the  host,  and  Abiathar  the  priest; 
and,  behold,  they  eat  and  drink  before  him,  and  say, 

26  God  save  king  Adonijah.  But  me,  even  me  thy  servant, 
and  Zadok  the  priest,  and  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada, 

27  and  thy  servant  Solomon,  hath  he  not  called.  Is  this 
thing  done  by  my  lord  the  king,  and  thou  hast  not 
shewed  unto  thy  servants  who  should  sit  on  the  throne 

its  moral  quality,  but  also  by  its  consequences   (cf.  Gen.  xliii.  9, 
xliv.  32  ;  Num.  xxii.  34). 

i.  22-27.  Nathan's  intervieiv.  The  point  of  the  prophet's  skilful, 
and  not  too  ingenuous,  appeal  lies  in  the  insinuation  that,  to  judge 
from  appearances,  David  must  have  been  acting  behind  the  backs 
of  his  confidential  advisers.  Nathan  cannot  believe  the  king 
would  do  such  a  thing,  yet  he  cannot  imagine  any  other  explana- 
tion of  Adonijah's  conduct !  It  is  noticeable  that  he  never  once 
refers  to  the  oath  to  Bath-sheba.  To  avoid  the  semblance  of 
collusion  he  pretends  to  look  at  the  matter  from  a  purely  official 
point  of  view. 

23.  The  ceremonious  announcement  of  the  prophet  is  to  allow 
Bath-sheba  to  retire  (verse  28),  in  accordance  with  Eastern 
etiquette. 

25.  For  tlxe  captains  of  the  host,  read,  with  LXX  (L),  '  Joab, 
the  commander-in-chief.'  There  was  but  one  commander-in-chief. 
God  save  .  .  . :  better,  *  Long  live  King  Adonijah  ! '  There  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  prophet  is  here  drawing  on  his 
imagination  in  order  to  prejudice  the  king  against  Adonijah  ;  nothing 
is  more  natural  than  that  he  should  have  kept  himself  informed 
by  the  reports  of  spies  of  the  doings  at  the  Serpent's  Stone. 

27.  Otherwise  :  <  If  this  thing  has  been  brought  about .  .  .  then 


I  KINGS  1.  28-33.     C  65 

of   my   lord    the   king   after   him  ?    Then   king    David  28 
answered  and  said,  Call  me  Bath-sheba.     And  she  came 
into  the  king's  presence,    and  stood  before  the   king. 
And  the  king  sware,  and  said,  As  the  Lord  liveth,  who  29 
hath  redeemed  my  soul  out  of  all  adversity,  verily  as  I  30 
sware  unto  thee  by  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  saying, 
Assuredly  Solomon  thy  son  shall  reign  after  me   and  he 
shall  sit  upon  my  throne  in  my  stead ;  verily  so  will  I 
do  this  day.     Then  Bath-sheba  bowed  with  her  face  to  31 
the  earth,  and  did  obeisance  to  the  king,  and  said.  Let 
my  lord  king  David  live  for  ever.     And  king  David  said,  32 
Call  me  Zadok  the  priest,  and  Nathan  the  prophet,  and 
Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada.     And  they  came  before 
the  king.     And  the  king  said  unto  them.  Take  with  you  33 
the  servants  of  your  lord,  and  cause  Solomon  my  son  to 
ride   upon   mine  own   mule,  and   bring  him   down   to 

i.  28-31.  David  confirms  his  oath  to  Bath-sheba. 
29.  For  the  form  of  the  oath,  cf.  2  Sam.  iv.  9. 

i.  32-40.  The  anointing  of  Solomon.  David  gives  minute  and 
explicit  directions  for  the  immediate  installation  of  Solomon  as 
his  successor.  By  putting  these  orders  in  the  mouth  of  the  king 
the  writer  shows  how  far  it  is  from  his  intention  to  represent  him 
as  mentally  incapable.  The  essential  and  decisive  feature  of  the 
coronation  ceremonies  was  the  act  of  anointing.  It  consisted  in 
pouring  sacred  oil  on  the  head  of  the  monarch,  and  was  probably 
in  ordinary  cases  performed  by  a  priest.  The  primary  meaning 
of  the  rite  seems  to  have  been  to  establish  a  relation  between  the 
king  and  the  deity,  in  virtue  of  which  his  person  was  considered 
inviolable  (i  Sam.  xxiv.  6,  xxvi.  9).  But  with  this  there  was 
early  associated  the  other  idea  of  the  communication  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  to  whose  indwelling  all  kingly  virtues  were  ascribed  (i  Sam, 
xvi.  13).  SeeW.  R.  Smith,  Rel.  of  Sent. ^  pp.  233,  384;  and 
Weinel  in  ZA  TJVfor  1898.  The  lack  of  this  indispensable  function 
blighted  Adonijah's  prospects  of  the  throne. 

33.  the  servants  of  your  lord :  the  bodyguard,  associated,  as 

in  2  Sam.  xx.  6  f.,  with  the  Cherethites  and  Pelethites  (see  below). 

mine  own  mule  (fem.).     The  mule  is  first  mentioned  in  the 

reign  of  David  as  the  riding  beast  of  the  royal  family  (2  Sam. 

xiii.  29,  xviii.  9).     Common  people  still  used  asses  (ii.  40 ;  2  Sam. 

F 


66  I  KINGS  1.  .:>4-3S.     C 

34  Gihon  :  and  let  Zadok  the  priest  and  Nathan  the  prophet 
anoint  him  there  king  over  Israel :  and  blow  ye  with  the 

35  trumpet,  and  say,  God  save  king  Solomon.  Then  ye 
shall  come  up  after  him,  and  he  shall  come  and  sit  upon 
my  throne;  for  he  shall  be  king  in  my  stead:  and  I 
have  appointed  him  to  be  prince  over  Israel  and  over 

36  Judah.  And  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada  answered  the 
king,  and  said.  Amen :  the  Lord,  the  God  of  my  lord 

37  the  king,  say  so  too.  As  the  Lord  hath  been  with  my 
lord  the  king,  even  so  be  he  with  Solomon,  and  make 
his   throne  greater  than  the  throne  of  my  lord   king 

38  David.  So  Zadok  the  priest,  and  Nathan  the  prophet, 
and  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada,  and  the  Cherethites 
and  the  Pelethites,  went  down,  and  caused  Solomon  to 
ride  upon  king  David's  mule,  and  brought  him  to  Gihon. 

xvii.  23),  while  the  war-horse  was  only  introduced  under  Solomon. 
These  changes  mark  the  rapid  advance  which  the  country  made  in 
material  civilization  in  the  early  daj's  of  the  monarchy. 

Gihon,  where  the  anointing  was  to  take  place,  must  have 
been  another  sanctuary  of  ancient  Jerusalem  (see  on  verse  9"). 
The  indications  point  to  its  being  identical  with  the  Virgin's 
Spring  {Bir  Sitti  Maryani)  in  the  Kidron  valley,  at  the  foot  of  the 
south-east  hill  on  which  David's  citadel  stood  (cf.  2  Chron.  xxxii. 
30,  xxxiii.  14),  (See  Plan  of  Jerusalem.)  It  is  about  700  yards 
north  of  Job's  Well,  and  by  so  much  nearer  the  palace — an  impor- 
tant consideration  in  view  of  the  haste  with  which  the  ceremony 
had  to  be  carried  through. 

36.  the  LOBD  .  .  .  say  so  too.  The  Hebrew  gives  a  weak 
sense ;  the  true  text  is  perhaps  preserved  by  LXX  (L) :  <  May 
Yahweh  confirm  the  words  of  my  lord  the  king '.' 

38.  Cherethites  aud  .  .  .  Pelethites:  '  Krethi  and  Plethi,' 
foreign  mercenaries  who  formed  the  garrison  of  the  capital,  and  the 
standing  nucleus  of  David's  army  (cf.  2  Sam.  viii.  18,  xv.  18,  xx. 
7,  23).  The  Krethi  are  mentioned  in  i  Sam.  xxx.  14  as  a  tribe 
in  the  Negeb  ;  Plethi  is  possibly  a  corrupt  pronunciation  q{  Plhhtim 
(Philistines).  It  was  evidently  the  discipline  and  fidelity  of  these 
troops  that  saved  the  situation  for  Solomon. 

*  In  the  Heb.,  change  iC!^*'  p  to  pMl  and  'nSw  to  narn^». 


I  KINGS  1.  p,9-4|.     C  67 

And  Zadok  the  priest  took  the  honi  of  oil  out  of  the  zo 
Tent,  and  anointed  Solomon.     And  they  blew  the  trum- 
pet ;  and  all  the  people  said^  God  save  king  Solomon. 
And  all  the  people  came  up  after  him,  and  the  people  40 
piped  with  pipes,  and  rejoiced  with  great  joy,  so  that  the 
earth  rent  with  the  sound  of  them.     And  Adonijah  and  41 
all  the  guests  that  were  with  him  heard  it  as  they  had 
made  an  end  of  eating.     And  when  Joab  heard   the 
sound  of  the  trumpet,  he  said,  Wherefore  is  this  noise  of 
the  city  being  in  an  uproar  ?   While  he  yet  spake,  behold,  42 
Jonathan  the   son   of  Abiathar  the  priest  came:    and 
Adonijah  said.  Come  in;  for  thou  art  a  worthy  man, 
and  bringest  good  tidings.     And  Jonathan  answered  and  43 
said  to  Adonijah,  Verily  our  lord  king  David  hath  made 
Solomon  king :  and  the  king  bath  sent  with  him  Zadok  44 
the  priest,  and  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  Benaiah  the 


39.  out  of  the  Tent :  doubtless  the  tent  on  Zion  in  which 
the  ark  was  placed  (2  Sam.  vi.  17),  though  some  think  a  sacred 
tent  at  Gihon  is  intended. 

40.  piped  with  pipes.  LXX,  with  a  small  change  of  text, 
reads  'danced  in  dances,'  which  is  perhaps  preferable. 

i.  41-49.  The  collapse  of  Adonijah'' s  conspiracy.  The  guests  at 
En-rogel  had  reached  the  end  of  their  protracted  carousal,  when 
Joab's  practised  ear  caught  the  note  of  the  trumpet.  His  aston- 
ished question  is  answered  by  the  arrival  of  Jonathan  the  son  of 
Abiathar,  who  is  effusively  but  anxiously  hailed  as  a  'worthy 
man '  and  an  auspicious  messenger.  Jonathan's  report  goes 
beyond  what  has  been  previously  related ;  but  not  necessarily 
beyond  what  he  had  ascertained  to  have  happened.  It  is  part 
of  the  writer's  art  to  carry  forward  his  narrative  in  the  speeches 
of  the  actors  (so  in  verse  25).  The  result  is  that  the  assembly 
breaks  up  in  confusion. 

42.  On  Jonathan,  see  2  Sam.  xv.  27  ff.,  xvii.  17  flf. 

a  worthy  man :  originally  '  man  of  valour,'  then  '  man  of 
substance,'  the  expression  had  come  to  be  used  as  a  vague  term 
of  approbation,  sometimes  =  '  a  capable  person ' :  Gen.  xlvii.  6  ; 
Exod.  xviii.  21 ;  and  cf.  the  fern.,  Prov.  xxxi.  10. 

F  2 


68  I  KINGS  1.  45-52.     C 

son  of  Jehoiada,  and  the  Cherethites  and  the  Pelethites, 
and  they  have  caused  him  to  ride  upon  the  king's  mule : 

45  and  Zadok  the  priest  and  Nathan  the  prophet  have 
anointed  him  king  in  Gihon  :  and  they  are  come  up 
from  thence  rejoicing,  so  that  the  city  rang  again.     This 

46  is  the  noise  that  ye  have  heard.     And  also  Solomon 

47  sitteth  on  the  throne  of  the  kingdom.  And  moreover 
the  king's  servants  came  to  bless  our  lord  king  David, 
saying,  Thy  God  make  the  name  of  Solomon  better  than 
thy  name,  and  make  his  throne  greater  than  thy  throne  : 

48  and  the  king  bowed  himself  upon  the  bed.  And  also 
thus  said  the  king.  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  the  God  of 
Israel,  which  hath  given  one  to  sit  on  my  throne  this 

49  day,  mine  eyes  even  seeing  it.  And  all  the  guests  of 
Adonijah  were  afraid,  and  rose  up,  and  went  every  man 

50  his  way.  And  Adonijah  feared  because  of  Solomon ; 
and  he  arose,  and  went,  and  caught  hold  on  the  horns 

51  of  the  altar.  And  it  was  told  Solomon,  saying.  Behold, 
Adonijah  feareth  king  Solomon  :  for,  lo,  he  hath  laid 
hold  on  the  horns  of  the  altar,  saying,  Let  king  Solomon 
swear  unto  me  this  day  that  he  will  not  slay  his  servant 

52  with  the  sword.  And  Solomon  said,  If  he  shall  shew 
himself  a  worthy  man,  there  shall  not  an  hair  of  him  fall 
to  the  earth :   but  if  wickedness  be  found  in  him,  he 

47.  bowed  himself  upon  the  bed:  cf.  Gen.  xlvii.  31  (J). 

i.  50-53.  AdonijaKs  life  spared.  With  a  clemency  rarely  dis- 
played by  Eastern  despots,  Solomon  promises  to  spare  Adonijah, 
on  condition  of  his  future  good  behaviour. 

50.  On  the  altar  as  asylum,  see  Exod.  xxi.  12-14  '•  the  only 
historic  instances  of  the  institution  in  Israel  are  those  of  Adonijah 
here,  and  Joab  in  ii.  28.  The  precise  significance  of  the  horns  of 
the  altar  is  obscure  (see  W.  R.  Smith,  ReL  of  Sem?  p.  436,  n.  2)  ; 
but  it  is  clear  that  special  sanctity  inhered  in  them  ;  and  that  in 
a  sense  the  efficacy  of  the  altar  was  concentrated  there  (Exod. 
xxix.  12  ;  Lev.  iv.  7ff.)- 

51.  this  day:  render  with  marg.  *  first  of  all.' 


I  KINGS  1.  53—2.  I.     C  69 

shall  die.     So  king  Solomon  sent,  and  they  brought  him  53 
down  from  the  altar.     And  he  came  and  did  obeisance 
to  king  Solomon :  and  Solomon  said  unto  him,  Go  to 
thine  house. 

Now  the  days  of  David  drew  nigh  that  he  should  die ;  2 

53.  Qo  to  thine  house  :  a  command  to  retire  into  private  life. 
(2)   ii.  1-12.  DavicTs  last  charge  to  Solomon. 

With  regard  to  the  genuineness  of  these  verses,  great  diversity 
of  opinion  prevails  among  recent  critics.  That  verses  2-4  are 
Deuteronomistic  is  universally  admitted  ;  and  it  is  equally  certain 
that  verses  10-12  in  their  present  form  are  from  the  hand  of  the 
compiler  of  Kings.  The  important  question  is  whether  the  remain- 
ing verses  (i,  5-9)  were  found  in  the  primary  source  to  which 
ch.  i  and  ii.  13  if.  belong,  or  were  composed  at  a  later  time  in  order 
to  acquit  Solomon  of  direct  responsibility  for  the  death  of  Joab 
and  Shimei.  The  arguments  for  the  second  view  are  chiefly 
these  :  /irst,  that  the  real  motive  for  the  execution  of  Joab  was 
his  complicity  in  the  plot  of  Adonijah  :  hence,  so  far  as  he  is 
concerned,  verses  5-9  are  unhistorical ;  and  second,  that  the  writer 
of  verses  13-46  evidently  takes  that  view,  so  that  he  at  least  cannot 
be  the  author  of  verses  5-9.  But  against  this  it  has  to  be  noted 
(i)  that  the  reasons  assigned  for  the  executions  in  verses  31  ff., 
44  ff.,  are  in  perfect  agreement  with  verses  5-9.  It  is  replied, 
indeed,  that  these  were  but  the  official  pretexts  by  which  Solomon 
justified  his  action  ;  but  that  the  writer  regarded  them  in  that  light 
is  a  purely  gratuitous  assumption,  and  affords  no  real  ground  for 
denying  to  him  the  authorship  of  verses  5-9.  (2)  In  the  case  of 
Shimei  no  motive  is  even  suggested  except  the  alleged  'official 
pretext.*  He  is  never  mentioned  as  an  accomplice  of  Adonijah — 
an  omission  which  would  be  inexplicable  if  the  author  knew  that 
he  was  put  to  death  for  the  same  offence  as  Joab '.  (3)  The  theory 
offers  no  explanation  of  the  charge  concerning  the  sons  of  Barzillai 
(verse  7),  the  fulfilment  of  which  is  not  referred  to  in  the  sequel. 
(4)  It  is  very  difficult  to  believe  that  any  Hebrew  writer  would 
have  sought  to  exculpate  Solomon  by  throwing  a  far  blacker  stain 

^  The  argument  here  is  complicated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  LXX 
the  instruction  regarding  Shimei  is  repeated  immediately  before  verse 
36.  Since  it  is  unlikely  that  the  same  passage  should  have  occurred 
twice  in  the  original  LXX,  it  is  urged  that  this  points  to  an  earlier 
recension  of  the  text  in  which  Shimei,  but  not  Joab,  was  marked  out 
for  vengeance  by  David.  But  in  view  of  the  evident  superiority  of 
the  Hebrew  text  in  chs.  i,  ii,  it  is  hazardous  to  base  an  argument  on 
a  hypothetical  recension  imperfectly  preserved  in  the  Greek  Version. 


70  I  KINGS  2.  2-4.     C  D 

2  and  he  charged  Solomon  his  son,  saying,  I  go  the  way  of 
all  the  earth  :  [D]  be  thou  strong  therefore,  and  shew 

3  thyself  a  man ;  and  keep  the  charge  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  to  walk  in  his  ways,  to  keep  his  statutes,  and  his 
commandments,  and  his  judgements,  and  his  testimonies, 
according  to  that  which  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses, 
that  thou  mayest  prosper  in  all  that  thou  doest,  and 

4  whithersoever  thou  turnest  thyself:  that  the  Lord  may 

on  the  memory  of  David.  The  only  assumption  at  all  plausible 
would  be  that  it  was  done  under  the  influence  of  a  late  tendency 
to  glorify  Solomon  as  a  prince  whose  annals  were  unstained 
by  bloodshed  (i  Chron.  xxii.  8-10).  But  even  that  suggestion  is 
negatived  by  the  circumstance  that  no  effort  is  made  to  absolve 
him  from  the  blood  of  his  brother  Adonijah.  On  purely  historical 
grounds,  therefore,,  the  case  against  the  genuineness  of  verses  5-9 
does  not  appear  to  be  made  out.  On  moral  grounds,  it  might  be 
a  satisfaction  to  get  rid  of  an  incident  so  incongruous  with  the 
chivalrous  magnanimity  of  David's  character.  Yet  we  must 
remember  that  the  passage  finds  an  exact  parallel  in  his  terrible 
reprisal  on  Saul's  house  for  the  massacre  of  the  Gibeonites  (2  Sam. 
xxi).  David  was  after  all  a  child  of  his  age,  liable  to  be  swayed 
by  the  superstitious  beliefs  then  prevalent,  which  quenched  his 
nobler  impulses  and  made  ideal  ethical  conduct  impossible.  (See 
further  on  verses  6  and  8.) 

ii.  1-4.  General  charge  io  personal  piety.  The  section  is  almost 
entirely  written  by  the  compiler ;  verses  2*^-4  especially  exhibiting 
in  nearly  every  phrase  the  characteristic  style  of  the  Deuteronomic 
school.     Note  the  parallels  pointed  out  below. 

1.  drew  nigh  tliat  he  shoiUcl  die:  cf.  Gen.  xlvii.  29  (J^  ; 
Deut.  xxxi.  14. 

2.  §ro  the  way  of  all  the  earth  :  as  Joshua  xxiii.  14  ^a  Deuter- 
onomic passage). 

be  .  .  .  strong:  Joshua  i.  6  fT. 

3.  keep  the  charge :  Deut.  xi.  i  ;  Joshua  xxii,  3. 
walk  in  his  ways  :  Deut.  viii.  6,  x,  12,  xi.  22,  &c. 
keep  his  statutes :  Deut.  iv.  40,  vii.  11,  x.  13,  &c. 
his  testimonies :  Deut.  iv.  45,  vi,  17,  20. 

written  in  the  law  of  Moses:  i.  c.  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy, 
the  only  part  of  the  Pentateuch  to  which  this  title  is  ever  applied 
by  the  compiler  of  Kings.  Comp.  Deut.  xvii.  18-20,  where  the 
diligent  study  of  the  book  is  specially  enjoined  on  the  king. 

that  thoix  mayest  prosper:  Deut.  xxix.  9  :  Joshua  i.  7. 


I  KINGS  2.5-7.     DC  11 

establish  his  word  which  he  spake  concerning  me, 
saying,  If  thy  children  take  heed  to  their  way,  to  walk 
before  me  in  truth  with  all  their  heart  and  with  all  their 
soul,  there  shall  not  fail  thee  (said  he)  a  man  on  the 
throne  of  Israel.  [C]  Moreover  thou  knowest  also  5 
what  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah  did  unto  me,  even  what 
he  did  to  the  two  captains  of  the  hosts  of  Israel,  unto 
Abner  the  son  of  Ner,  and  unto  Amasa  the  son  of 
Jether,  whom  he  slew,  and  shed  the  blood  of  war  in 
peace,  and  put  the  blood  of  war  upon  his  girdle  that  was 
about  his  loins,  and  in  his  shoes  that  were  on  his  feet. 
Do  therefore  according  to  thy  wisdom,  and  let  not  his  6 
hoar  head  go  down  to  the  grave  in  peace.     But  shew  7 

4.  his  word  which  he  spake  concerning-  me.  The  reference 
is  to  2  Sam.  vii.  12  ff.,  the  contents  of  which  are  freely  reproduced 
in  the  remainder  of  this  verse. 

with  all  their  heart  and  with  all  their  sonl :  Deut.  iv.  29, 
vi.  5,  X.  12  ;  Joshua  xxii.  5,  &c. 

ii.  5-9.  Specific  charges  regarding  individuals. 

5.  6.  Joah  is  marked  for  vengeance  on  account  of  the  treacher- 
ous assassinations  of  'the  two  commanders-in-chief  of  Israel' — 
Abner  (2  Sam.  iii.  27)  and  Amasa  (xx.  8-10).  The  clause  and 
set  (so  we  must  render  as  in  marg.)  the  blood  of  war  in  peace  is 
omitted  by  some  of  the  best  MSS.  of  the  LXX,  possibly  on  account 
of  the  harshness  of  the  Hebrew  phrase.  The  best  reading  might 
be  that  of  LXX  (L),  '  and  avenged  the  blood  of  war  in  peace,'  which 
describes  exactly  the  murder  of  Abner :  it  was  a  base  and  treacher- 
ous revenge  for  the  death  of  Asahel,  who  had  been  killed  in  fair 
fight.  The  words  may,  however,  be  a  gloss.  In  the  following 
clause  it  is  better  (with  tlie  same  authority)  to  read  *  innocent  blood' 
for  blood  of  war :  perhaps  also  '  my  girdle  .  .  .,  my  loins  .  .  .,  my 
sandals  .  .  .,'  &c.  This  at  least  emphasizes  the  point  that  the 
murders  were  committed  under  circumstances  that  gave  colour  to 
the  suspicion  that  David  himself  was  privy  to  them. 

6.  Do  therefore  .  .  .  wisdom :  i.  e.  find  some  specious  pretext 
for  bringing  Joab  to  his  death  (cf.  verse  9). 

g-o  down  to  Sheol:  see  verse  9.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to 
estimate  fairly  the  measure  of  blame  attaching  to  David  in  this 
transaction.  Since  Joab's  crimes  had  been  to  his  advantage,  the 
accusation  of  personal  vindictiveness  may  be  ruled  out  of  con- 


72  I  KINGS  2.  8,  9.     C 

kindness  unto  the  sons  of  Barzillai  the  Gileadite,  and  let 
them  be  of  those  that  eat  at  thy  table  :   for  so  they  came 

8  to  me  when  I  fled  from  Absalom  thy  brother.  And, 
behold,  there  is  with  thee  Shimei  the  son  of  Cera,  the 
Benjamite,  of  Bahurim,  who  cursed  me  with  a  giievous 
curse  in  the  day  when  I  went  to  Mahanaim  :  but  he 
came  down  to  meet  me  at  Jordan,  and  I  sware  to  him 
by  the  Lord,  saying,  I  will  not  put  thee  to  death  with 

9  the  sword.     Now  therefore  hold  him  not  guiltless,  for 

sideration,  unless  we  are  to  go  behind  the  narrative  and  suppose 
him  to  have  been  actuated  by  a  desire  to  avenge  the  death  of 
Absalom,  or  by  a  vague  resentment  at  the  masterful  ascendency 
which  Joab  had  so  long  exercised  over  him.  We  must  rather 
assume  that  David  was  influenced  by  a  genuine  fear  lest  the  guilt 
of  unrequited  murder  should  bring  disaster  on  his  kingdom  (see 
verses  31,  33) ;  and  the  question  is  how  far  that  anxiety  justified 
him  in  inciting  Solomon  to  an  act  of  vengeance  which  he  had 
lacked  either  the  power  or  the  courage  to  execute  himself.  On 
the  most  lenient  view  it  must  be  frankly  acknowledged  that  David's 
conduct  is  abhorrent  to  our  ideas  of  justice  and  honour;  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  it  would  not  have  been  condemned  by  the  highest  moral 
standard  of  his  own  time.  But  while  we  admit  the  stain  on  the 
memory  of  the  great  king,  we  have  no  right  to  den}'  to  him  the 
possession  of  all  nobler  qualities  of  character,  or  (like  Renan  to 
speak  of  this  incident  as  a  revelation  of  '  the  black  perfidy  of  his 
hypocritical  soul '  {Histoire  du  pcnple  d' Israel,  ii.  p.  92). 

7.  the  sons  of  Barzillai  (see  2  Sam.  xvii.  27  ff.,  xix.  33  ff.)  are 
to  continue  the  recipients  of  a  royal  pension  :  this,  and  not  actual 
fellowship  at  table,  is  supposed  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  expression 
of  those  that  eat  at  thy  tahle.     But  see  2  Sam.  ix.  7  ff".,  xix.  28. 

8,  9.  Shimei  the  son  of  Oera:  see  2  Sam.  xvi.  5  ff.,  xix.  16  ff. 
Bahurim:  on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  (2  Sam. 

iii.  16,  xvi.  5,  xvii.  i8}  ;  the  exact  site  is  not  certainh'  known. 

a  grievous  (or  potent)  curse.  The  curse  once  uttered  was 
conceived  as  having  an  objective  existence,  and  endowed  with 
self-fulfilling  energj',  which  it  might  retain  indefinitely,  unless  it 
could  be  rolled  back  on  him  who  uttered  it.  That  this  was  the 
idea  in  David's  mind  may  be  inferred  from  verses  44  f. 

I  will  not  .  .  .  sword.  The  oath  of  David  as  recorded  in 
2  Sam.  xix.  23  is  not  capable  of  the  sinister  construction  which  is 
here  suggested,  viz.  that  Solomon  was  not  bound  by  its  literal 
terms.     It  may  be  the  case  '  Ewald,  History,  iii.  p.  214;  that  the 


I  KINGS  2.  10,  II.     CD  73 

thou  art  a  wise  man  ;  and  thou  wilt  know  what  thou 
oughtest  to  do  unto  him,  and  thou  shalt  bring  his  hoar 
head  down  to  the  grave  with  blood.  [D]  And  David  lo 
slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in  the  city  of 
David.  And  the  days  that  David  reigned  over  Israel  n 
were  forty  years  :  seven  years  reigned  he  in  Hebron,  and 
thirty  and  three  years  reigned  he  in  Jerusalem. 

exercise  of  the  prerogative  of  mercy  was  understood  to  expire  with 
a  change  of  sovereign  ;  but  here  again  it  must  be  confessed  that 
David's  superstitious  foreboding  leads  him  to  commit  an  action 
which  to  our  minds  is  utterly  dishonourable  :  he  '  keeps  the  word 
of  promise  to  the  ear,  and  breaks  it  to  the  hope.' 

9.  thou  art  a  wise  man  :  see  on  verse  6. 

brinsr  his  hoar  head  down  to  Sheol  (marg.)  with  blood: 
Sheol,  the  underworld,  the  realm  of  shades,  is  the  Hebrew  equiva- 
lent of  the  Homeric  Hades.  It  is  the  universal  gathering-place  of 
the  souls  of  the  departed,  to  which  good  and  bad  alike  '  go  down ' 
at  death.  The  verse  expresses  a  common  belief  that  the  shade 
preserves  the  appearance  of  the  living  man,  or  more  accurately 
the  appearance  with  which  he  made  his  exit  from  this  world. 
Shimei's  bloodstained  hair  remains  a  witness  for  ever  to  the 
dishonoured  death  he  had  died.  Cf  Gen,  xxxvii.  35,  xUi.  38, 
xliv.  29,  31  (J). 

ii.  10-12.  Concluding  notice  of  David'' s  reign.  We  have  here  the 
first  occurrence  of  the  compiler's  'framework'  (Introd.,  p.  loff.). 
The  original  document  must  no  doubt  have  contained  at  this  point 
a  notice  of  the  death  of  David. 

10.  Is  the  stereotyped  formula  in  which  the  death  of  the  kings 
of  Judah  is  recorded  (cf  xi.  43,  xiv.  31,  &c.). 

slept  (strictly  'lay')  with  his  fathers.  The  expression  is 
obviously  derived  from  interment  in  the  family  sepulchre  (Gen. 
xlvii.  30),  and  in  its  literal  sense  is  inapplicable  to  David,  whose 
ancestors  must  have  been  buried  in  Beth-lehem.  But  there  are 
many  passages  besides  this  which  prove  that  the  expression  had 
been  extended,  and,  so  to  speak,  spiritualized,  in  the  sense  of 
reunion  in  Sheol  (e.  g.,  Deut.  xxxi.  16).  The  whole  conception 
of  Sheol,  indeed,  was  largely  a  projection  of  the  earthly  burying 
place  into  the  sphere  of  the  unseen. 

the  city  of  David :  the  new  city  built  on  the  site  of  the  old 
Jebusite  fort  which  had  been  captured  by  David  (2  Sam.  v.  9). 
As  to  its  situation,  see  Appendix,  Note  i. 

11.  Cf.  2  Sam.  v.  5. 


74  I  KINGS  2.  12-15.     DC 

12  And  Solomon  sat  upon  the  throne  of  David  his  father ; 

13  and  his  kingdom  was  estabhshed  greatly.  [C]  Then 
Adonijah  the  son  of  Haggith  came  to  Bath-sheba  the 
mother  of  Solomon.     And  she  said,  Comest  thou  peace- 

14  ably  ?  And  he  said,  Peaceably.  He  said  moreover,  I 
have  somewhat  to  say  unto  thee.     And  she  said.  Say  on. 

15  And  he  said.  Thou  knowest  that  the  kingdom  was  mine, 
and  that  all  Israel  set  their  faces  on  me,  that  I  should 
reign :    howbeit  the  kingdom  is  turned  about,  and   is 

(3)  li'  i3~46'  Removal  of  SoloniorC s  Enemies. 

ii.  13-25.  The  fate  of  Adonijah.  The  defeated  candidate  for 
the  throne  seeks  an  interview  with  Bath-sheba,  now  the  queen- 
mother,  desiring  her  to  use  her  influence  with  Solomon  on  his 
behalf.  Bath-sheba  is  completely  won  over  by  his  pathetic 
appeal :  he  speaks  as  a  man  resigned  to  the  loss  of  the  great 
ambition  of  his  life,  and  with  only  one  small  wish  left — to  re- 
ceive the  beautiful  Abishag  in  marriage.  The  admirable  detach- 
ment and  impartiality  of  the  narrator  allows  this  request  to  make 
on  us  the  same  impression  as  it  made  on  Bath-sheba,  and  actually 
leaves  us  in  some  uncertainty  whether  Adonijah  cherished  the 
treasonable  design  which  Solomon  attributed  to  him.  The  proba- 
bility, however,  is  that  he  was  not  so  innocent  as  Bath-sheba 
imagined.  According  to  an  ancient  Semitic  custom,  which 
survived  in  Arabia  down  to  the  time  of  Mohammed  (W.  R.  Smith, 
Kinships,  p.  86flf.),  the  wives  of  a  man  deceased  passed  with  the 
other  property  to  his  heir.  Similarly  among  the  Hebrews  great 
importance  was  attached,  in  the  case  of  a  royal  succession,  to  the 
possession  of  the  wives  and  concubines  of  the  late  monarch 
(see  2  Sam.  iii.  7,  xii.  8,  xvi.  21  f.).  Hence  to  grant  Adonijah's 
wish  would  strengthen  immensely  his  claim  to  be  regarded  as 
David's  lawful  heir ;  and  since  he  had  already  the  right  of 
primogeniture  in  his  favour,  and  was  supported  by  influential 
men,  Solomon's  position  might  easily  have  been  rendered  un- 
tenable. He  accordingly  refuses  the  request,  and  sentences  his 
brother  to  death  ;  a  sentence  carried  out  by  Benaiah  as  captain 
of  the  bodyguard. 

13.  Comest  thou  peaceably?  *  Is  this  a  friendly  visit? '  The 
astonishment  and  alarm  of  the  question  are  natural  in  the  strained 
relations  between  the  two  factions. 

15.  the  kingdom  was  mine.  That  Adonijah  was  really  looked 
on  as  the  heir-presumptive  is  virtually  admitted  by  Solomon  in 
verse  22,  '  he  is  my  elder  brother.' 


I  KINGS  2.  16-33.     C  75 

become  my  brother's :   for  it  was  his  from  the  Lord. 
And  now  I  ask  one  petition  of  thee,  deny  me  not.     And  16 
she  said  unto  him,  Say  on.     And  he  said,  Speak,  I  pray  17 
thee,  unto  Solomon  the  king,  (for  he  will  not  say  thee 
nay,)  that  he  give  me  Abishag  the  Shunammite  to  wife. 
And  Bath-sheba  said,  Well;   I  will  speak  for  thee  unto  18 
the  king.     Bath-sheba  therefore  went  unto  king  Solomon,  19 
to  speak  unto  him  for  Adonijah.     And  the  king  rose  up 
to  meet  her,  and  bowed  himself  unto  her,  and  sat  down 
on  his  throne,  and  caused  a  throne  to  be  set  for  the 
king's  mother;  and  she  sat  on  his  right  hand.     Then  20 
she  said,  I  ask  one  small  petition  of  thee ;  deny  me  not. 
And  the  king  said  unto  her,  Ask  on,  my  mother :  for 
I  will  not  deny  thee.     And  she  said,  Let  Abishag  the  21 
Shunammite  be  given  to  Adonijah  thy  brother  to  wife. 
And  king  Solomon  answered  and  said  unto  his  mother,  22 
And  why  dost  thou  ask  Abishag  the  Shunammite  for 
Adonijah  ?   ask  for  him  the  kingdom  also ;   for  he  is 
mine  elder  brother ;  even  for  him,  and  for  Abiathar  the 
priest,  and  for  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah.     Then  king  23 
Solomon  sware  by  the  Lord,  saying,  God  do  so  to  me, 

19.  As  the  queen-mother,  Bath-sheba  enjoys  a  dignity  in  the 
court  which  had  not  belonged  to  her  while  David  was  alive  : 
contrast  the  ceremony  of  this  reception  with  the  intei-view  of 
i.  15,  16. 

For  bowed  himself  unto  her,  we  should  read  with  LXX. 
'  kissed  her.' 

20,  21.  With  a  certain  consciousness  of  her  new  importance, 
Bath-sheba  presents  Adonijah's  petition  as  her  own  personal 
request. 

22.  The  king's  anger  breaks  out  in  an  ironical  question  :  *  Why 
ask  Abishag  only  1  Why  not  the  kingdom  at  once  ? '  See  above. 
even  for  him :  unintelligible.  With  a  slight  change  of 
text  we  may  read,  '  and  on  his  side  are  Abiathar  .  .  .  and  Joab.' 
Solomon  finds  in  the  incident  evidence  of  a  fresh  conspiracy  ;  and 
this  supplies  him  with  the  desired  occasion  for  proceeding  against 
Joab. 


76  I  KINGS  2.  24-27.     CD 

and  more  also,  if  Adonijah  have  not  spoken  this  word 
34  against  his  own  hfe.  Now  therefore  as  the  Lord  hveth, 
who  hath  estabhshed  me,  and  set  me  on  the  throne  of 
David  my  father,  and  who  hath  made  me  an  house,  as 
he  promised,  surely  Adonijah  shall  be  put  to  death  this 

25  day.  And  king  Solomon  sent  by  the  hand  of  Benaiah 
the  son  of  Jehoiada ;  and  he  fell  upon  him,  that  he  died. 

26  And  unto  Abiathar  the  priest  said  the  king,  Get  thee  to 
Anathoth,  unto  thine  own  fields ;  for  thou  art  worthy  of 
death:  but  I  will  not  at  this  time  put  thee  to  death, 
because  thou  barest  the  ark  of  the  Lord  God  before 
David  my  father,  and  because  thou  wast  afflicted  in  all 

27  wherein  my  father  was  afflicted.  [D]  So  Solomon  thrust 
out  Abiathar  from  being  priest  unto  the  Lord  ;  that  he 
might   fulfil   the  word  of  the   Lord,   which   he  spake 

23.  against  Ms  own  life :  better,  '  at  the  cost  of  his  life,' 

ii.  26,  27.  The  banishment  of  Abiathar.  His  life  is  spared, 
ostensibly  for  his  long  fidelity  to  David,  although,  for  that  matter, 
Joab's  devotion  had  been  still  more  conspicuous.  The  king  was 
no  doubt  influenced  by  other  reasons  as  well ;  partly  the  know- 
ledge that  Abiathar  was  a  much  less  dangerous  enemy  than  Joab, 
and  partly  perhaps  a  regard  for  the  sanctity  of  his  office.  He  is 
banished  to  his  patrimonial  estate  at  Anathoth. 

26.  The  words  at  tMs  time  ought  to  be  taken  (as  by  LXX) 
with  the  previous  clause,  '  thou  art  worthy  of  death  this  day,  but 
I  will  not,'  &c. 

Anathoth  is  the  modern  'Andtd,  two  and  a  half  miles  north- 
east of  Jerusalem.  How  Abiathar  came  to  have  lands  there  we 
do  not  know  ;  but  the  place  remained  for  many  centuries  the 
residence  of  a  priestly  family,  from  which  sprang  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  (Jer.  i.  i). 

2*7.  While  Abiathar  is  removed  from  the  royal  sanctuary,  the 
original  narrative  said  nothing  of  a  degradation  from  the  priest- 
hood, for  this  verse  must  be  an  editorial  insertion.  It  is  based  on 
I  Sam.  ii.  27-36,  which,  in  its  present  form  at  least,  can  hardly 
have  been  written  earlier  than  Josiah's  reformation.  The  purpose 
of  the  gloss  is  not  so  much  to  call  attention  to  the  fulfilment  of 
a  prediction  as  to  vindicate  the  legitimacy  of  the  Zadokite  priest- 
hood, which,  humanly  speaking,  owed  its  elevation  lo  this  political 
measure  of  Solomon.     See  on  verse  35. 


I   KINGS  2.  28-32.     DC  77 

concerning  the  house  of  Eli  in  Shiloh.     [C]  And  the  28 
tidings    came    to    Joab :    for    Joab    had    turned    after 
Adonijah,  though  he  turned  not  after  Absalom.     And 
Joab  fled  unto  the  Tent  of  the  Lord,  and  caught  hold 
on   the   horns   of  the    altar.      And    it   was    told   king  29 
Solomon,  Joab  is  fled  unto  the  Tent  of  the  Lord,  and, 
behold,  he  is  by  the  altar.     Then  Solomon  sent  Benaiah 
the  son  of  Jehoiada,  saying,  Go,  fall  upon  him.     And  30 
Benaiah  came  to  the  Tent  of  the  Lord,  and  said  unto 
him,  Thus  saith  the  king.  Come  forth.     And  he  said, 
Nay ;  but  I  will  die  here.     And  Benaiah  brought  the 
king  word  again,  saying,  Thus  said  Joab,  and  thus  he 
answered  me.     And  the  king  said  unto  him.  Do  as  he  31 
hath  said,  and  fall  upon  him,  and  bury  him ;  that  thou 
mayest  take  away  the  blood,  which  Joab  shed  without 
cause,  from  me  and  from  my  father's  house.     And  the  3  a 
Lord  shall  return  his  blood  upon  his  own  head,  because 

ii.  28-34.  ^^^^  ^"^  of  Joab.  On  hearing  the  rumour  of  these 
occurrences,  Joab  had  sought  shelter  at  the  altar  ;  and  there, 
without  further  trial,  he  is  cut  down  by  the  order  of  Solomon. 

28.  See  i.  50. 

The  parenthetic  sentence  for  Joab  had  turned  explains 
(somewhat  superfluously)  how  and  why  the  rumour  affected 
Joab  :  that  it  gives  the  author's  view  of  the  reason  for  his 
condemnation,  as  opposed  to  the  official  justification  in  verses  31  f., 
is  not  so  evident. 

the  Tent  of  the  LORD  is  the  tent  which  David  had  erected 
for  the  ark  (i.  39  ;  2  Sam.  vi.  17). 

29.  The  story  is  amplified  in  the  LXX  by  a  long  addition  in 
the  middle  of  the  verse,  which  may  be  quoted,  although  it  adds 
nothing  to  the  sense  :  '  Then  Solomon  sent  to  Joab  saying, 
Wherefore  hast  thou  fled  to  the  altar  ?  And  Joab  said,  Because 
I  feared  before  thy  face,  and  I  fled  to  the  Lord.  And  Solomon 
sent  Benaiah,'  &c. 

31.  and  bury  him.  Joab  is  to  be  spared  the  last  indignity 
of  being  denied  the  rites  of  sepulture. 

32.  his  blood  upon  his  own  head:  a  common,  but  not 
meaningless,  metaphor.  It  expresses  the  idea  that  blood  thus 
righteously  shed  in  the  administration  of  justice  creates  no  new 


78  I  KINGS  2.  33-36.     C 

he  fell  upon  two  men  more  righteous  and  better  than  he, 
and  slew  them  with  the  sword,  and  my  father  David 
knew  it  not,  to  wit^  Abner  the  son  of  Ner,  captain  of 
the  host  of  Israel,  and  Amasa  the  son  of  Jether,  captain 

33  of  the  host  of  Judah.  So  shall  their  blood  return  upon 
the  head  of  Joab,  and  upon  the  head  of  his  seed  for 
ever :  but  unto  David,  and  unto  his  seed,  and  unto  his 
house,  and  unto  his  throne,  shall  there  be  peace  for  ever 

34  from  the  Lord.  Then  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada 
went  up,  and  fell  upon  him,  and  slew  him ;  and  he  was 

35  buried  in  his  own  house  in  the  wilderness.  And  the 
king  put  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada  in  his  room  over 
the  host :  and  Zadok  the  priest  did  the  king  put  in  the 

36  room  of  Abiathar.  And  the  king  sent  and  called  for 
Shimei,   and   said  unto  him,   Build   thee  an  house  in 

blopd-feud  :  the  otherwise  endless  vendetta  is  stayed.  Compare 
the  opposite  case  in  the  next  verse. 

34.  Like  Samuel  (i  Sam.  xxv.  i),  Joab  is  buried  iu  his  own 
house,  which  was  in  the  wilderness  of  Judca  (see  the  graphic 
description  in  G.  A  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.,  p.  312  ff.).  Joab's  house 
and  family  grave  would  naturally  be  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Beth-lehem. 

35.  The  installation  of  Zadok,  here  inserted  by  an  editor,  was 
an  event  of  extraordinary  significance  in  the  religious  history  of 
Israel.  In  the  first  instance,  it  was  nothing  more  than  the  selection 
of  a  particular  Levitical  line  as  custodians  of  the  royal  sanctuary ; 
but  with  the  growing  importance  of  the  Jerusalem  temple  the 
influence  of  its  priesthood  steadily  increased  ;  and  that  influence 
seems,  on  the  whole,  to  have  been  exercised  in  the  true  interests 
of  the  national  religion.  The  High  Priesthood  appears  to  have 
remained  in  the  family  till  the  murder  of  Onias  in  b.c.  171 
(2  Mace.  iv.  34).  Even  after  the  restoration  of  Jewish  inde- 
pendence, the  name  Zadokite  survived  as  the  designation  of  the 
sect  of  the  Sadducees,  who  were  originally  the  old  temple  aris- 
tocracy, who  adhered  as  a  body  to  the  policy  of  the  priest-princes 
of  the  Asmonean  house. 

ii.  36-46.  The  reckoning  with  Shimei.  He  is  summoned  from 
Bahurim  and  ordered  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Jerusalem,  where 
his  movements  could  be  closely  watched  ;  and  is  made  to  swear, 


I  KINGS  2.  37-43.     C  79 

Jerusalem,  and  dwell  there,  and  go  not  forth  thence  any 
whither.     P'or  on  the  day  thou  goest  out,  and  passest  37 
over  the  brook  Kidron,  know  thou  for  certain  that  thou 
shalt  surely  die:   thy  blood  shall  be  upon  thine  own 
head.     And  Shimei  said  unto  the  king,  The  saying  is  38 
good :  as  my  lord  the  king  hath  said,  so  will  thy  servant 
do.     And  Shimei  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  many  days.     And  39 
it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  three  years,  that  two  of  the 
servants  of  Shimei  ran  away  unto  Achish,  son  of  Maacah, 
king  of  Gath.     And  they  told  Shimei,  saying,  Behold, 
thy   servants   be   in    Gath.      And    Shimei    arose,    and  40 
saddled  his  ass,  and  went  to  Gath  to  Achish,  to  seek  his 
servants :   and  Shimei  went,  and  brought  his  servants 
from  Gath.     And  it  was  told  Solomon  that  Shimei  had  41 
gone  from   Jerusalem  to  Gath,   and  was  come  again. 
And  the  king  sent  and  called  for  Shimei,  and  said  unto  42 
him,  Did  I  not  make  thee  to  swear  by  the  Lord,  and 
protested  unto  thee,  saying,  Know  for  certain,  that  on 
the  day  thou  goest  out,  and  walkest  abroad  any  whither, 
thou  shalt  surely  die?   and  thou  saidst  unto  me,  The 
saying  that  I  have  heard  is  good.     Why  then  hast  thou  43 

on  pain  of  death,  not  to  pass  the  limits  of  the  city.  (The  brook 
Kidron  is  mentioned  as  the  boundary  he  would  have  to  cross  to 
get  back  to  his  old  haunts  and  connexions  among  the  Benjamites.) 
For  three  years  he  observed  the  compact ;  then  his  restless  spirit 
found  a  slight  occasion  for  an  excursion  in  the  direction  opposite 
to  that  which  he  was  expected  to  take.  The  affair  is  duly  reported 
to  Solomon  ;  and  Shimei  is  condemned  to  death. 

39.  Acliish,  sou  of  Maacah,  king-  of  Gath.  In  i  Sam.  xxvii.  2 
we  read  of  an  Achish ,  son  of '  Maoch  ' ;  and  though  more  than  forty 
years  had  elapsed,  the  same  king  must  probably  be  meant ;  and  the 
names  should  doubtless  be  read  alike  in  the  two  passages. 

42.  protested  unto  thee:  'solemnly  admonished  thee.'  The 
last  clause,  and  thou  saidst  .  . .  g'ood,  is  not  found  in  the  LXX, 
perhaps  owing  to  a  mistake  of  the  translator.  If  genuine,  it 
should  be  rendered  :  'Good  is  the  matter!  I  have  heard/  which 
is  Hebrew  for  '  Very  good  !  I  obey.'     (Cf.  verse  38.) 


8o  I  KINGS  2.  4^-46.     C 

not  kept  the  oath  of  the  Lord,  and  the  commandment 

44  that  I  have  charged  thee  with  ?  The  king  said  moreover 
to  Shimei,  Thou  knowest  all  the  wickedness  which  thine 
heart  is  privy  to,  that  thou  didst  to  David  my  father : 
therefore  the  Lord  shall  return  thy  wickedness  upon 

45  thine  own  head.  But  king  Solomon  shall  be  blessed, 
and  the  throne  of  David  shall  be  established  before  the 

46  Lord  for  ever.  So  the  king  commanded  Benaiah  the 
son  of  Jehoiada ;  and  he  went  out,  and  fell  upon  him, 
that  he  died.  And  the  kingdom  was  established  in  the 
hand  of  Solomon. 

44.  Behind  the  technical  offence  lies  a  graver  charge,  which  is 
the  real  ground  of  his  condemnation.  The  words  which  thine 
heart  is  privy  to  (Jit.  '  knoweth  ')  seem  to  represent  a  variant  of 
the  preceding  clause. 

shall  return :  better  perhaps,  '■  hath  returned  '  (so  LXX,  &.c.^. 
Shimei's  infatuated  conduct  was  Yahweh's  sentence  on  his 
wickedness. 

45.  king*  Solomon  shall  he  blessed :  by  the  removal  of  the 
curse  from  his  house  (see  on  verse  8). 

46.  And  the  kingdom.  The  sentence  is  inserted  by  the  LXX 
(in  a  corrupt  form)  in  the  middle  of  verse  35.  It  is  hard  to  say 
which  may  have  been  its  original  position. 

Note  oil  the  LXX  of  chapter  it. 

One  of  the  most  important  peculiarities  of  the  Greek  text  of 
Kings  is  found  in  the  latter  part  of  chap,  ii,  in  the  form  of  two 
very  long  additions,  one  between  verses  35  and  36,  and  the  other 
after  verse  46.  (It  has  to  be  remembered  that  the  last  clause 
of  verse  46  is  transferred  to  the  middle  of  verse  35  ;  see  the  last 
note.)  The  additional  verses  are  numbered  in  Swete's  edition  by 
the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  as  ii.  35  *-  ^  ° .  .  .  " ;  and  ii.  46  *  .  .  .  ^ : 
and  this  notation  is  adopted  in  the  following  notes,  in  the  few 
instances  where  it  is  necessary  to  refer  to  the  passages.  Each 
insertion  begins  with  a  notice  of  Solomon's  wisdom  and  power ; 
and  then  passes  on  to  a  series  of  fragmentary  data,  such  as  we 
frequently  find  in  the  Hebrew  of  chaps,  iii-xi.  Tlie  first  (35  '"°), 
ends  with  an  account  of  David's  charge  regarding  Shimei,  which 
naturally  leads  up  to  the  narrative  of  the  death  of  the  latter,  as  in 
verses  36-46.  The  second  insertion  ends  with  a  verse  (46^), 
which  corresponds  generally  with  iv.   i  of  the  Hebrew ;   but  in 


I  KINGS  3.  I.     A  8i 

[AJ  And  Solomon  made  affinity  with  J^haraoh  king  of  3 

the  Vatican  MS.  (LXX  (B) ),  this  is  followed  by  a  break  in  the 
continuity,  which  shows  tliat  the  LXX  text  has  been  abruptly 
dropped  (probably  at  the  end  of  a  page)  to  make  way  for  the 
present  Hebrew  text.  It  is  impossible  here  to  discuss  the 
intricate  problems  of  textual  history  which  are  suggested  by 
these  variations.  The  hypothesis  that  the  LXX  represents  an 
independent  recension,  older  than  the  Hebrew,  cannot  be  es- 
tablished. With  very  few  exceptions  the  inserted  notices  all 
occur  in  one  place  or  another  of  the  Hebrew  of  iii-xi ;  and  most 
o^  the  facts  can  be  explained  by  assuming  that  they  are  an 
attempted  rearrangement  of  the  material  supplied  by  the  Hebrew 
for  the  history  of  Solomon.  At  the  same  time,  their  secondary 
character  does  not  destroy  their  value  for  the  criticism  of  the  text. 
The  compilation  must  have  been  made  from  an  earlier  form  of  the 
Hebrew  ;  and  in  some  cases  has  preserved  a  better  reading.  It  is 
possible  also  that  it  underwent  expansion  here  and  there,  and  that 
in  its  amplified  form  it  came  into  the  hands  of  a  later  scribe,  who 
used  it  to  annotate  his  Hebrew  MS. 

iii-xi.     The  Reign  of  Solomon. 

The  account  of  Solomon's  reign  occupies  (if  we  include  i.  ii) 
more  than  a  fourth  part  of  the  two  Books  of  Kings  ;  and  is 
arranged  upon  a  method  almost  peculiar  to  this  section.  Instead 
of  the  graphic  continuous  narratives  which  form  the  basis  of  the 
history  of  David,  we  have  (in  iii-xi)  a  lifeless  and  somewhat 
confused  assortment  of  very  heterogeneous  material,  '  determined 
less  by  chronological  sequence  than  by  community  of  subject' 
(Driver).  The  selection  of  material  seems  to  have  been  influenced 
largely  by  two  leading  points  of  view  :  a  sense  of  Solomon's 
importance  as  the  founder  of  the  temple  ;  and  admiration  of  him 
as  the  beati  ideal  of  wisdom  and  regal  magnificence.  The  first 
of  these  appealed  most  strongly  to  the  Deuteronomic  editors,  as 
we  may  judge  from  the  disproportionate  space  (more  than  half  the 
section")  allotted  to  the  building  and  inauguration  of  the  sanctuary 
(v.  I — ix.  9).  The  second  appears  in  the  older  authorities  ;  and 
also  in  some  late  additions  which  celebrate  the  splendour  of 
Solomon's  rule  in  terms  which  occasionally  exceed  historical 
probability. 

The  literary  analysis  of  the  section  is  extremely  complicated. 
Setting  aside  post-redactional  glosses  and  insertions  of  various 
kinds,  we  can  distinguish  three  kinds  of  material  which  enter  into 
the  composition : — 

(i)  A  statistical  or  annalistic  account  of  Solomon's  kingdom, 
commencing  at  iv.  i  and  extending  to  iv.  28,  resumed  in  ix.  10-28, 
and  concluding  with  x.  14-29  (A).     It  is  a  reasonable  assumption 


82  I  KINGS  3.  I.     A 

Egypt,  and  took  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  brought  her 

that  these  detached  notices  are  based  in  the  first  instance  on  the 
state  records  of  the  reign,  although  the  form  and  connexion  in 
which  they  now  appear  must  be  due  to  the  labours  of  successive 
editors.  It  is  uncertain  whether  the  description  of  the  temple 
buildings  and  utensils  in  vi,  vii  is  taken  from  the  same  source, 
or  from  an  independent  document  (T)  preserved  in  the  temple 
archives. 

(2)  A  series  of  narratives  (S),  partly  historical,  describing 
important  events  in  the  reign,  and  partly  biographical,  illustrative 
of  Solomon's  wisdom  and  greatness  :  iii.  4-13,  16-28,  v.  i — vi.  i, 
viii.  1-13.  X.  1-13,  the  basis  of  xi.  1-8,  xi.  14-22,  26-31,  40.  It 
is  not  to  be  assumed  that  all  these  passages  are  derived  from 
a  single  document,  or  belong  to  one  age  :  the  story  of  the  queen 
of  Sheba  (x.  1-13)  has  certain  traces  of  later  authorship  (see 
p.  166);  while  the  account  of  Jeroboam  (xi.  26  ff.),  which  anticipates 
xii,  shows  that  some  at  least  of  the  sources  were  not  peculiar  to 
the  history  of  Solomon,  but  belonged  to  historical  works  of  more 
comprehensive  scope. 

(3)  The  Deuteronomic  supplements  (D),  which  occur  partly  in 
the  form  of  short  interpolations,  and  partly  as  longer  compositions: 
iii.  3,  14  f.,  V.  4f.,  vi.  11-13,  viii.  14-61,  ix.  1-9,  xi.  9-13,  32-39? 
^  1-43.  Of  these  again  some  parts  appear  to  be  pre-Exilic,  and 
others  Exilic  or  post-Exilic. 

The  most  interesting  question  which  here  arises  concerns  the 
relation  of  (i)  and  (2)  to  the  work  cited  in  xi.  41  as  the  Book  of  the 
Acts  of  Solomon.  Since  it  contained  some  account  of  Solomon's 
'wisdom,'  it  may  be  presumed  at  least  to  have  included  certain 
anecdotes  of  the  kind  mentioned  under  (2).  Now  there  is  evidence 
that  some  of  these  narratives  had  been  combined  with  annalistic 
material  in  the  sources  which  lay  before  the  compiler ;  and 
a  peculiar  use  of  the  particle  'then'  (iii.  16,  viii.  i,  12,  ix.  11,  24, 
xi.  7)  suggests  that  the  combination  had  been  effected  in  a  docu- 
ment of  the  same  general  character  as  the  chronicles  of  the  kings 
of  Israel  and  Judah.  It  is  possible,  therefore— though  far  from 
certain — that  this  was  the  history  of  Solomon  referred  to.  But 
that  all  the  notices  grouped  under  (i)  had  been  thus  treated  we 
can  hardly  assume,  in  view  of  the  extremely  fragmentary  nature 
of  the  compilation  and  the  numerous  displacements  revealed  by 
a  comparison  of  the  Hebrew  text  with  the  LXX.  It  seems  better, 
accordingly,  to  denote  these  by  a  special  symbol  (A),  and  to  use 
(S)  for  the  more  continuous  narratives. 

It  is  from  the  pre-Deuteronomic  sources  that  we  must  start  if 
we  are  to  form  a  historical  estimate  of  the  character  and  policy  of 
Solomon.  There  is  no  doubt  that  these  writers  present  his 
government  on  the  whole  in  a  favourable  light.     We  cannot  be 


I  KINGS   3.  I.     A  83 

into  the  city  of  David,  until  he  had  made  an  end  of 
building  his  own  house,  and  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 

wrong  in  thinking  of  the  reign  as  a  period  of  rapidly  advancing 
civilization,  of  great  material  prosperity  and  outward  splendour ; 
nor  in  attributing  all  this  mainly  to  the  initiative  and  enterprise  of 
the  monarch.  Solomon  was  a  man  of  brilliant  genius  and  resource, 
inspired  by  a  passion  for  self-aggrandizement  which  found  an  out- 
let in  the  ostentatious  luxury  of  his  court  and  the  costly  building 
projects  that  made  his  name  famous.  He  was  quick  to  perceive 
the  opportunities  offered  to  the  newly  consolidated  nationality  of 
Israel  by  its  geographical  position  and  political  relations ;  and  he 
knew  how  to  utilize  these  advantages  in  opening  up  new  sources 
of  revenue.  But  the  history  enables  us  to  see  at  the  same  time 
that  his  rule  was  by  no  means  an  unmixed  blessing  to  his  subjects. 
It  shows  that  under  him  the  empire  of  David  began  to  crumble ; 
that  his  government,  if  essentially  just,  was  despotic  and  oppressive  ; 
and  that  his  selfish  ambitions  exhausted  the  financial  resources  of 
the  country.  And  the  silence  of  the  historians  is  perhaps  even 
more  eloquent  than  their  speech.  It  is  significant  that  they  have 
little  to  tell  of  true  moral  greatness,  or  any  application  of  his 
fabulous  wealth  except  the  barren  and  extravagant  display  of  an 
oriental  court.  We  can  readily  understand  that  Solomon,  with 
his  purely  intellectual  eminence  and  his  soaring  cosmopolitan 
ideas,  excited  the  admiration  rather  than  the  aff*ection  of  his 
people  ;  and  that  his  harsh  and  unsympathetic  administration  pro- 
duced a  smouldering  discontent  which  broke  out  in  open  rebellion 
immediately  after  his  death. 

iii.   Introducioyy  Narratives. 

iii.  I.  Solomon's  marriage  with  an  Egyptian  princess.—The  verse 
hardly  stands  here  in  its  proper  position.  In  the  LXX  it  is  united 
with  ix.  16  of  the  Hebrew,  and  the  two  are  inserted  after  iv.  34  of 
the  E.  V.  (between  verses  14  and  15  of  ch.  v  in  the  Hebrew).  In 
that  connexion  the  incident  would  belong  to  the  annalistic  account 
of  Solomon's  reign  which  commences  at  iv.  i  ;  and,  on  the  whole, 
this  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  its  original  setting.  The 
history  of  Solomon  will  then  have  begun  in  the  usual  way,  with 
the  compiler's  verdict  on  his  religious  attitude,  in  verse  3. 

1.  made  affinity  with:  'became  the  son-in-law  of.'  The 
Pharaoh  referred  to  must  have  been  a  predecessor  of  Shishak 
(xiv.  25),  the  founder  of  the  twenty-second  dynasty  ;  and  there- 
fore one  of  the  last  kings  of  the  twenty-first  (Tanitic)  dynasty. 
Winckler  (KAT^,  p.  236)  points  out  that,  according  to  a  passage 
in  the  Tel-Amarna  tablets,  it  was  impossible  for  an  Egyptian 
princess  to  marry  a  foreigner  ;  hence  he  argues  that  there  must 

G    2 


84  I  KINGS  3.  2-4.     AZDS 

the  vail  of  Jerusalem  round  about.  [Z]  Only  the 
people  sacrificed  in  the  high  places,  because  there  was 
no  house  built  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  until  those 
days.  [D]  And  Solomon  loved  the  Lord,  walking  in 
the  statutes  of  David  his  father :  only  he  sacrificed  and 
burnt  incense  in  the  high  places. 

[S]  And  the  king  went  to  Gibeon  to  sacrifice  there ; 

be  a  confusion  here  between  Mizraim  (Egypt)  and  the  Arabian 
kingdom  of  Muzri.  The  passage  occurs  in  a  correspondence 
between  the  kings  of  Egypt  and  Babylon,  in  which  the  former 
refuses  his  daughter  to  the  latter  on  the  ground  that  such  a  thing 
had  never  been  done.  His  royal  correspondent,  however,  appears 
to  treat  the  refusal  as  a  diplomatic  evasion.  In  any  case,  it  hap- 
pened four  or  five  centuries  before  the  time  of  Solomon.  (Sec 
KIB,  V.  p.  8f.) 

On  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  see  ix.  15. 

iii.  2,  3.  Religious  judgements  on  Solomon.  The  word  *  only ' 
in  verse  2,  qualifying  nothing  in  the  preceding  context,  indicates 
that  there  has  been  some  textual  disturbance,  which  is  probably 
to  be  explained  as  follows  : — The  Deuteronomic  compiler  is  respon- 
sible for  verse  3  alone,  which  expresses,  in  the  terms  usually 
applied  to  the  good  kings  of  Judah,  a  general  commendation  of 
Solomon's  conduct  (see  xv.  14  ;  2  Kings  xii.  3,  &c.,  &c.).  Verse  2 
was  first  written  as  a  marginal  comment  by  a  later  scribe,  who 
supposed  that  the  second  half  of  verse  3  referred  merely  to  the 
sacrifice  at  Gibeon,  and  wished  to  justify  Solomon  by  pointing 
out  that  this  was  due  to  the  temple  not  being  built.  Eventually 
the  gloss  was  incorporated  in  the  text  in  its  present  unsuitable 
position.  Verse  2,  however,  still  represents  the  Deuteronomic 
point  of  view  :  the  law  of  the  one  sanctuary  did  not  come  into 
practical  operation  until  the  temple  was  built.  The  older  narra- 
tive (verse  4)  accepts  the  worship  of  the  high  places  as  a  matter 
of  course. 

3.  loved  the  LORD,  walkinsT :  a  Deuteronomic  phrase  ;  Deut. 
x.  12,  xi.  22,  &c. 

sacrificed  and  burnt  incense:  strictly,  'slaughtered  and 
turned  into  (sacrificial)  smoke ' ;  an  expression  of  frequent  occur- 
rence in  the  Deuteronomic  portions  of  Kings  (xi.  8,  xxii.  43  ; 
a  Kings  xii.  3,  &c.). 

iii.  4-15.  Solomon's  initiatory  sacrifice  and  vision  at  Gibeon. 
Solomon   appears  to  have  celebrated  his  accession    by  a  great 


I  KINGS  3.  5,  6.     S  D  85 

for  that  was  the  great  high  place :   a  thousand  burnt 
offerings  did  Solomon  offer  upon  that  altar.     In  Gibeon  5 
the  Lord  appeared  to  Solomon  in  a  dream  by  night : 
and    God    said,   Ask   what   I    shall    give   thee.      And  6 
Solomon    said,    Thou    hast   shewed    unto   thy   servant 
David  my  father  great  kindness,   [D]  according  as  he 

religious  ceremony  at  the  most  frequented  sanctuary  in  the 
vicinity  of  Jerusalem.  On  the  following  night  Yahweh  appears 
to  him  in  a  dream,  and  offers  the  fulfilment  of  whatever  request 
he  may  make.  The  incident  has  a  profound  interest  and  signifi- 
cance. The  youthful  monarch,  solemnized  perhaps  by  the  im- 
posing service  in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  and  impressed  by 
a  sense  of  the  responsibilities  of  government,  puts  aside  the  pros- 
pect of  earthly  greatness,  and  definitely  chooses  as  his  portion 
the  wisdom  and  righteousness  necessary  for  the  right  discharge 
of  his  exalted  duties.  His  unselfish  aspiration  is  rewarded  by  a 
promise  not  only  of  the  wisdom  he  had  asked,  but  of  wealth  and 
honour  and  long  life.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  two  recorded 
Divine  communications  to  Solomon  take  place,  not  through  the 
medium  of  prophecy,  but  through  dreams  in  a  sacred  place  (cf.  ix. 
I,  2).  In  the  whole  history  of  Solomon  there  is  no  instance  of 
prophetic  influence  on  his  policy,  such  as  Nathan  and  Gad  had 
exerted  in  the  reign  of  David.  The  passage  contains  numerous 
traces  of  the  hand  of  the  compiler,  especially  in  verses  6  and  14  ; 
but  the  basis  of  the  narrative  is  undoubtedly  ancient.  See  Burney, 
p.  aSff.,  who  gives  a  careful  comparison  of  the  text  with  the 
parallel  in  2  Chron.  i.  3-13. 

4.  Gibeon,  the  modern  el-Jib,  was  in  the  territory  of  Benjamin, 
some  six  miles  north-west  of  Jerusalem.  It  was  the  great  (i.  e. 
*  chief)  higrh  place,  possibly  on  account  of  its  central  position,  and 
its  proximity  to  the  capital. 

Mgli  place  (Heb.  hdmdK)  is  the  ancient  and  technical  name 
(found  also  on  the  Moabite  Stone)  of  the  local  Canaanitish  sanc- 
tuaries, which  had  been  adopted  by  the  Israelites,  and  consecrated  to 
the  worship  of  Yahweh.  Every  town  and  village  had  such  a  place 
of  sacrifice,  situated  on  the  *  height '  on  whose  slope  the  town  was 
built  (i  Sam.  ix.  loff".).  In  the  Chronicler's  version  of  the  incident 
(2  Chron.  i.  3  ff.),  a  different  reason  is  given  for  the  choice  of 
Gibeon  for  the  sacrifice,  viz.  that  the  Mosaic  tabernacle  and  the 
brazen  altar  were  there,  though  the  ark  was  in  Jerusalem.  That 
explanation  is  certainly  unhistorical ;  but  it  is  one  which  arose 
naturally  from  the  fixed  belief  that  sacrifice  elsewhere  than  at  the 
one  legitimate  sanctuaiy  had  always  been  impossible. 

6.  The  phraseology  here  is  mostly  Deuteronomic. 


86  I  KINGS  3.  7-1 T.     DS 

walked  before  thee  in  truth,  and  in  righteousness,  and  in 
uprightness  of  heart  with  thee;  and  thou  hast  kept  for 
him  this  great  kindness,  that  thou  hast  given  him  a  son 

7  to  sit  on  his  throne,  as  it  is  this  day.  [S]  And  now,  O 
Lord  my  God,  thou  hast  made  thy  servant  king  instead 
of  David  my  father :   and  I  am  but  a  Htde  child ;   I 

8  know  not  how  to  go  out  or  come  in.  And  thy  servant  is 
in  the  midst  of  thy  people  which  thou  hast  chosen,  a 
great  people,  that  cannot  be  numbered  nor  counted  for 

9  multitude.  Give  thy  servant  therefore  an  understanding 
heart  to  judge  thy  people,  that  I  may  discern  between 
good  and  evil ;  for  who  is  able  to  judge  this  thy  great 

10  people?  And  the  speech  pleased  the  Lord,  that  Solomon 

11  had  asked  this  thing.     And  God  said  unto  him,  Because 


thou  hast  kept :  resei-ved  this  as  thy  crowning  act  of 
goodness  to  David  ;  cf.  i.  48. 

7.  I  am  but  a  little  child  is  of  course  a  hyperbolical  expres- 
sion for  inexperience.  The  actual  age  of  Solomon  at  his  accession 
is  not  stated.  If  the  numbers  in  xiv.  21  and  xi.  42  be  correct,  he  had 
already  a  son  ;  and  his  vigorous  action  in  ch.  ii  certainly  suggests 
that  he  had  passed  beyond  boyhood.  Tradition  makes  him  to 
have  been  really  a  child.  Some  copies  of  the  LXX  insert  in 
ii.  12  a  notice  that  he  was  twelve  years  old  ;  Josephus  {Ant.  viii. 
211)  says  he  was  fourteen,  giving  him,  however,  a  reign  of 
eighty  years. 

to  g-o  out  or  come  in :  i.  e.,  to  discharge  the  duties  of  one's 
station  (i  Sam,  xviii.  16). 

8.  cannot  be  .  .  .  counted  for  multitude  :  cf.  viii.  5  ;  Gen.  xvi. 
10,  xxxii.  12. 

9.  an  tinderstandincr  heart :  ///.  '  a  hearing  heart '  (as  marg.) ; 
i.  e.  a  receptive  mind,  one  that  listens  and  considers  before  it 
decides  (cf.  2  Sam.  xiv.  17  ;  Prov.  xxi.  28). 

to  judsre  has  here  almost  the  sense  of  '  to  govern,'  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  being  the  principal  function  of  the  king  in 
time  of  peace. 

10.  11.  To  have  perceived  the  supreme  importance  of  this 
quality,  as  contrasted  with  external  greatness  and  military  glory, 
is  the  ethically  valuable  element  in  Solomon's  choice  which  makes 
it  pleasing  to  God. 


I   KINGS  3.  12-16.     SDS  87 

thou  hast  asked  this  thing,  and  hast  not  asked  for  thyself 
long  life ;  neither  hast  asked  riches  for  thyself,  nor  hast 
asked  the  life  of  thine  enemies;    but  hast   asked   for 
thyself  understanding  to  discern  judgement;  behold,  I  12 
have  done  according  to  thy  word :  lo,  I  have  given  thee 
a  wise  and  an  understanding  heart ;  so  that  there  hath 
been  none  like  thee  before  thee,  neither  after  thee  shall 
any  arise  like  unto  thee.     And  I  have  also  given  thee  13 
that  which  thou  hast  not  asked,  both  riches  and  honour, 
so  that  there  shall  not  be  any  among  the  kings  like  unto 
thee,  all  thy  days.     [D]  And  if  thou  wilt  walk  in  my  14 
ways,  to  keep  my  statutes  and  my  commandments,  as 
thy  father  David  did  walk,  then  I  will  lengthen  thy  days. 
[S]  And  Solomon  awoke,  and,  behold,  it  was  a  dream :  15 
and  he  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  stood  before  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  and  offered  up  burnt  offerings, 
and  offered  peace  offerings,  and  made  a  feast  to  all  his 
servants. 

Then  came  there  two  women,  that  were  harlots,  unto  16 

12.  an  uuderstaudiugf  heart:  better,  'a  discerning  mind'; 
the  marginal  reference  *  hearing '  is  a  mistake. 

13.  all  thy  days :  this  senseless  clause  should  be  omitted  with 
the  LXX. 

14.  See  on  ii.  2-4. 

15  is  generally  considered  to  be  the  work  of  a  still  later  writer, 
who  thought  that  if  Solomon  had  committed  the  irregularity  of 
sacrificing  at  a  high  place,  he  would  be  sure  to  put  matters  right  by 
a  sort  of  indemnifying  ceremony  at  the  proper  place.  But  the  first 
sentence  must  be  from  the  old  source  ;  and  for  the  rest,  there  is 
perhaps  nothing  very  improbable  in  the  statement  that  the  return 
to  Jerusalem  was  signalized  by  fresh  sacrifices  before  the  ark, 
where  there  seems  to  have  been  an  altar  (ii.  29).  The  phrase  '  ark 
0/  the  covenant  of  Yahweh  '  may  be  Deuteronomic  ;  but  the  addi- 
tion has  crept  into  the  text  in  other  early  passages,  and  there  is 
no  reason  why  it  might  not  have  done  so  here. 

iii.  16-28.  An  instance  0/ So/oMon^s  sagacity.  The  story  comes 
in  here  appropriately  as  an  illustration  of  the  endowment  which 


88  I  KINGS  3.  17-21.     S 

17  the  king,  and  stood  before  him.  And  the  one  woman 
said,  Oh  my  lord,  I  and  this  woman  dwell  in  one  house ; 
and  I  was  delivered  of  a  child  with  her  in  the  house. 

18  And  it  came  to  pass  the  third  day  after  I  was  delivered, 
that  this  woman  was  delivered  also ;  and  we  were 
together;  there  was  no  stranger  with  us  in  the  house, 

19  save  we  two  in  the  house.     And  this  woman's  child  died 

20  in  the  night ;  because  she  overlaid  it.  And  she  arose  at 
midnight,  and  took  my  son  from  beside  me^  while  thine 
handmaid  slept,  and  laid  it  in  her  bosom,  and  laid  her 

21  dead  child  in   my  bosom.     And  when  I   rose  in  the 

Solomon  had  obtained  in  answer  to  his  prayer.  To  us  it  is  in- 
teresting as  showing  the  kind  of  quality  which  the  early  Hebrews 
popularly  called  '  wisdom '  (Jiokmah),  and  which  was  so  greatly 
esteemed  among  them.  It  is  not  the  faculty  of  philosophical 
reflection,  nor  is  it  essentially  a  moral  virtue  ;  '  the  wisdom  which 
the  East  admires*  is  *  the  clever  judicial  decision,  the  faculty  of  cloth- 
ing a  practical  experience  in  a  rule  of  life  or  a  witty  saying,  the 
acuteness  which  can  solve  an  enigma'  (Duncker).  That  blending 
of  insight,  shrewdness  and  tact  which  penetrates  the  disguises  of 
human  action,  and  plays  deftly  on  the  true  motives  which  lie 
beneath,  is  the  wisdom  of  Solomon  ;  and  Jewish  legend  relates 
many  examples,  more  extravagant  than  this,  of  his  peculiar  gift. 
Grotius  called  attention  to  an  interesting  parallel  in  Diodorus 
Siculus  :  Ariopharnes,  king  of  Thrace,  had  to  decide  which  of  three 
pretenders  was  really  the  son  of  the  dead  king  of  the  Cimmerians  ; 
he  discovered  the  tmth  by  ordering  them  to  pierce  the  bod}'  of  the 
father  with  a  spear,  when  of  course  the  true  son  refused.  (Quoted 
by  Thenius.) 

16.  Then.  The  other  instances  of  this  use  of  the  word  (see  on 
p.  82  above)  are  viii.  i,  12,  ix.  11,  24,  xi.  7,  xvi.  21.  xxii.  49;  2  Kings 
viii.  22,  xii,  17,  xiv.  8,  xv.  16,  xvi.  5.  '  In  many  cases  the 
notices  introduced  by  it  lack  any  definite  point  of  attachment  in 
the  preceding  narrative  :  at  the  same  time,  their  directness  of 
statement  and  terseness  of  form  suggest  the  inference  that  they 
may  be  derived  immediately  from  the  contemporary  annalistic 
records'  (Driver,  Tutrod.'^  p.  203).  Driver  considers  the  usage  to 
be  a  characteristic  of  the  compiler;  but  it  is  equally  probable  that 
it  belongs  to  the  style  of  the  documents  he  emploj'ed. 

18.  no  stranger :  so  that  the  case  cannot  be  decided  by 
evidence. 


I  KINGS  3.  22-28.     S  89 

morning  to  give  my  child  suck,  behold,  it  was  dead : 
but  when  I  had  considered  it  in  the  morning,  behold,  it 
was  not  my  son,  which  I  did   bear.     And   the  other  22 
woman  said,  Nay;   but  the  living  is  my  son,  and  the 
dead  is  thy  son.     And  this  said,  No;  but  the  dead  is 
thy  son,  and  the  living  is  my  son.     Thus  they  spake 
before  the  king.     Then  said  the  king,  The  one  saith,  23 
This  is  my  son  that  liveth,  and  thy  son  is  the  dead :  and 
the  other  saith,  Nay ;  but  thy  son  is  the  dead,  and  my 
son  is  the  living.     And  the  king  said.  Fetch  me  a  sword.  24 
And  they  brought  a  sword  before  the  king.     And  the  25 
king  said.  Divide  the  living  child  in  two,  and  give  half 
to  the  one,  and  half  to  the  other.     Then  spake  the  26 
woman  whose  the  living  child  was  unto  the  king,  for  her 
bowels  yearned  upon  her  son,  and  she  said,  Oh  my  lord, 
give  her  the  living  child,  and  in  no  wise  slay  it.     But 
the  other   said.    It   shall   be  neither   mine   nor   thine; 
divide  it.     Then  the  king  answered  and  said,  Give  her  27 
the   living   child,   and  in  no  wise  slay  it :    she  is   the 
mother  thereof.     And  all  Israel  heard  of  the  judgement  28 
which  the  king  had  judged ;  and  they  feared  the  king : 

21.  considered  it:  better,  'looked  at  it  narrowly'  (as  Isa. 
xiv.  16). 

22,  23.  The  LXX  omits  the  sentence  And  this  said  ...  my 
son  in  verse  22,  and  in  the  following  verse  reads,  '  Thou  sayest 
.  .  .  and  thou  sayest,'  instead  of  The  one  saith  .  .  .  and  the 
other  saith.  The  Hebrew  is  preferable  in  both  cases:  in  the 
first,  because  it  depicts  better  the  unseemly  wrangling  of  the  two 
women  before  the  king  :  and  in  the  second,  because  a  soliloquy 
of  Solomon  on  the  peculiar  situation  is  the  most  suitable  prelude 
to  verse  24. 

26.  her  bowels  yearned  :  lit.  '  grew  warm  '  or  '  tender ' ; 
cf.  Gen.  xliii.  30  (J). 

27.  give  her  the  living"  child.  Since  the  pronoun  does  not 
refer  to  the  last  speaker,  it  may  be  better  to  read,  somewhat  as 
LXX,  '  Give  it  to  her  who  says.  Give  her  the  living  child  .  .  .  : 
she  is  its  mother.' 


90  I  KINGS  4.  1-3.     SA 

for  they  saw  that  the  wisdom  of  God  was  in  him,  to  do 
judgement. 
4      [A]   And   king   Solomon   was   king   over  all   Israel. 

2  And  these  were  the  princes  which  he  had ;  Azariah  the 

3  son  of  Zadok,  the  priest ;  Elihoreph  and  Ahijah,  the  sons 
of  Shisha,  scribes ;  Jehoshaphat  the  son  of  Ahilud,  the 

28.  the  wisdom  of  Ood:  better,  '  Divine  wisdom.' 
iv.  AiDtalisttc  accotoit  of  Soloiiion's  Kingdom. 

The  chapter  consists  for  the  most  part  of  a  series  of  extracts 
from  the  official  Annals  of  Solomon's  reign  :  these  (though 
interspersed  with  a  few  notices  of  later  date)  continue  to  the  end 
of  verse  28.  Since  a  heading  similar  to  verse  i  precedes  the  list 
of  David's  officials  in  2  Sam.  viii.  15,  it  seems  a  plausible  con- 
jecture that  it  forms  the  introduction  to  an  independent  account  of 
the  reign,  transferred  bodily  either  from  the  State  documents,  or 
from  some  abridgement  of  them  which  had  been  published  (so  Kittel). 

iv.  2-6.  List  of  Solomoii^ s  Ministers.  The  list  occurs  twice  in 
the  LXX ;  once  in  the  present  connexion,  and  again  as  part  of 
the  long  addition  in  ch.  ii  (ii.  46  ^)  ^  The  variations  of  the  three 
texts  are  very  considerable  ;  but  in  the  first  case  the  divergences 
from  the  Hebrew  can,  on  the  whole,  be  fairly  explained  by  scribal 
errors  either  in  the  Hebrew  or  the  Greek.  In  the  other  case, 
however,  the  discrepancies  are  very  remarkable  and  perplexing. 
Benzinger  has  hazarded  the  bold  suggestion  that  we  have  really 
to  do  with  two  independent  compilations,  based  on  two  different 
official  lists,  one  belonging  to  an  earlier  and  the  other  to  a  later 
period  of  the  reign.  It  is  also  of  interest  to  compare  the  corre- 
sponding lists  for  the  reign  of  David,  which  are  found  in  2  Sam. 
viii.  17  f.,  and  xx.  23-26. 

2.  princes :  (Heb.  sdrim,  often  rendered  '  captains ')  is  the 
technical  designation  of  the  high  civil  and  military  officials  of  the 
monarchical  regime.  Here  it  denotes  the  Ministers  of  State,  or 
heads  of  departments. 

the  ^chief)  priest  is  Azariah  the  son  of  Zadok,  hence  the 
list  cannot  be  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  reign  (see  ii.  35). 

3.  The  scribes,  or  •  secretaries '  (///.  *  writers ')  would  be  the 
officials  to  whom  was  entrusted  the  conduct  of  correspondence, 
the  keeping  of  records,  the  preparation  of  documents,  &c.  The 
office  would  seem,  like  the  priesthood,  to  have  been  hereditary; 
for  Shisha,  the  father  of  EUhoreph  (LXX,  '  Eliaph  '  or  'Eliab') 

^  See  the  note  on  p.  80  f. 


I  KINGS  4.  4-7.     A  91 

recorder ;  and  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada  was  over  the  4 
host ;  and  Zadok  and  Abiathar  were  priests  ;  and  Azariah  5 
the  son  of  Nathan  was  over  the  officers ;  and  Zabud  the 
son  of  Nathan  was  priest,  and  the  king's  friend ;   and  6 
Ahishar  was  over  the  household ;  and  Adoniram  the  son 
of  Abda  was  over  the  levy.     And  Solomon  had  twelve  7 

and  Ahijah,  can  easily  be  recognized  through  all  its  protean 
disguises  as  the  name  of  David's  secretary  (Seraiah,  2  Sam. 
viii.  17  ;  Sheva,  xx.  25).  In  the  LXX  of  ii.  46'*  the  father  still 
holds  the  office. 

The  business  of  the  recorder  (maskir,  lit.  'remembrancer') 
was  probably  to  bring  important  matters  of  State  to  the  notice  of 
the  king.  The  office  is  still  held  by  Jehoshapbat,  as  under  David 
(2  Sam.  viii.  16,  xx.  24). 

4*.  The  commander-in-chief  is  Benaiah,  as  in  ii.  35.  But  here 
we  cannot  ignore  the  surprising  variation  of  the  LXX  (ii.  46**), 
which  makes  Benaiah  still  captain  of  the  guard,  and  names  '  a  son 
of  Joab '  as  commander-in-chief.  It  is  barely  possible  that  this 
represents  the  distribution  of  offices  at  an  early  period  of  Solomon's 
reign,  if  we  assume  that  the  appointment  mentioned  in  ii.  35  was 
not  made  immediately  on  the  death  of  Joab,  which  it  must  be 
confessed  is  little  probable. 

4**  is  a  particularly  stupid  interpolation  (after  a  Sam.  viii.  17), 
absolutely  irreconcileable  with  ii.  35. 

5  *.  over  the  officers  :  or  governors  ;  see  on  verse  7  below. 

5^ .  Render,  and  Zabud  .  .  .  ,  a  priest,  was  the  king''s  friend, 
unless  we  are  to  follow  the  LXX  and  omit  *  priest '  entirely.  The 
duties  of  this  functionary  (cf.  2  Sam.  xv.  37,  xvi.  16)  are  quite 
unknowm  to  us.  The  office  is  mentioned  in  the  Tel-Amarna 
tablets  as  familiar  in  the  petty  courts  of  Palestine  in  the  fifteenth 
century  b.c.  (see  KIB,  v.  p.  215).  Cf.  also  Maspero,  in  Records 
of  the  Past',  ii.  p.  18. 

6  *.  over  the  household :  superintendent  of  the  palace,  or 
major-domo. 

Adoniram  (abbreviated  to  *  Adoram')  still  occupied  the  office 
at  Solomon's  death  (xii.  18). 

6  ^.  the  levy  (Heb.  mas)  is  a  collective  noun  denoting  labour- 
bands  raised  under  the  system  of  the  corvee  or  forced  labour, 
which  apparently  was  introduced  by  David  (2  Sam.  xx.  24%  but 
enormously  extended  by  Solomon  for  the  execution  of  his  public 
works  (cf.  verse  27  f.,  ix.  15,  and  Exod.  i.  11 ;  Judges  i.  28).  The 
word  is  supposed  to  be  borrowed  from  Egyptian. 

iv.  7-19.      List  of  Provincial   Governors.      The   country   was 


92  I  KINGS  4.  8-1 1.     A 

officers  over  all  Israel,  which  provided  victuals  for  the 
king  and  his  household :   each  man  had  to  make  pro- 

8  vision  for  a  month  in  the  year.     And  these  are  their 

9  names :  Ben-hur,  in  the  hill  country  of  Ephraim :  Ben- 
deker,  in  Makaz,  and  in  Shaalbim,  and  Beth-shemesh, 

10  and  Elon-beth-hanan  :  Ben-hesed,  in  Arubboth ;  to  him 

1 1  pertained  Socoh,   and  all   the  land  of  Hepher :    Ben- 
abinadab,  in  all  the  height  of  Dor ;  he  had  Taphath  the 

divided  into  twelve  administrative  districts — nine  west,  and  three 
east  of  the  Jordan — under  as  many  Collectors  or  Prefects,  each  of 
whom  was  charged  with  the  provision  of  the  royal  table  for  one 
month  in  the  year.  The  system  seems  to  have  been  instituted 
by  Solomon  ;  and  it  is  noteworthy,  as  illustrating  the  centralizing 
tendencies  of  the  monarchy,  that  in  the  division  of  the  country  the 
tribal  boundaries  are  mostly  ignored.  The  high  rank  and  re- 
sponsibility of  the  officers  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  two  of  them 
are  expressly  said  to  have  been  sons-in-law  of  the  king.  The  list 
is  very  confused  and  incomplete. 

*J.  The  word  for  officers  i^nizzdhmx)  occurs  only  in  the  history 
of  Solomon,  but  a  closely  allied  form  (^nezib)  is  occasionally  found 
in  the  same  sense  elsewhere.     It  means  'appointed.' 

8.  First  District,  tlie  hill  country  of  Ephraim,  administered 
by  a  certain  son  of  Hur.  It  is  noticeable  that  all  the  officers  are 
mentioned  by  their  patronymic,  the  personal  name  being  some- 
times inserted  and  sometimes  omitted. 

9.  Second  District,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Judaean  mountains  ; 
where  Shaalbim  may  be  SelbJt,  in  the  ancient  territory  of  Dan 
(Joshua  xix.  42)  ;  Beth-shemesh  is  certainly  'Ain  Shews,  on  one 
of  the  roads  from  Jerusalem  to  Jaffa.  A  place  Makaz  is  not  known. 
Elon  and  Beth-hanan  are  two  places  ;  the  former  was  also  in  Dan 
(Joshua  xix.  43)  ;  the  latter  has  been  conjecturally  localized  far  to 
the  south,  at  Beit  Haitun,  a  few  miles  north-east  of  Gaza. 

10.  T/iird  District,  in  the  south  of  Judah,  more  central  than 
the  second,  including  Arubboth  (unknown)  and  Socoh,  which  is 
one  or  other  of  two  villages  bearing  the  modern  name  of  Shi- 
weikeh.  The  northernmost,  in  the  Wadi  es- Stint,  is  too  near  Beth- 
shemesh  ;  hence  the  other,  lying  about  ten  miles  south-south-west 
of  Hebron,  is  most  probably  the  place  here  meant.  Hepher  is 
mentioned  in  Joshua  xii.  17  as  the  seat  of  a  Canaanitish  kingdom, 
presumably  in  this  same  region. 

11.  Foiuih  District,  allotted  to  a  son-in-law  of  Solomon,  was  in 
the  rich  undulating  Plain  of  Sharon — the  higfh  land  of  Dor 
(=  Tonittra  on  the  coast) — between  Carmel  and  the  sea. 


I  KINGS  4.  12-15.     A  93 

daughter  of  Solomon  to  wife  :  Baana  the  son  of  Ahilud,  12 
in  Taanach  and  Megiddo,  and  all  Beth-shean  which  is 
beside  Zarethan,   beneath  Jezreel,   from  Beth-shean  to 
Abel-meholah,  as  far  as  beyond  Jokmeam :  Ben-geber,  13 
in  Ramoth-gilead  ;  to  him  pertained  the  towns  of  Jair 
the  son  of  Manasseh,  which  are  in  Gilead ;  even  to  him 
pertained  the  region  of  Argob,  which  is  in  Bashan,  three- 
score great  cities  with  walls  and  brasen  bars :  Ahinadab  14 
the  son  of  Iddo,  in  Mahanaim :  Ahimaaz,  in  Naphtali ;  15 


12.  Fifth  District,  falling  to  Baaua  the  son  of  Ahilud  (a  brother 
of  the  *  recorder '  ?— see  verse  3) ;  it  takes  in  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon, 
where  Taanach  and  Megriddo  (JLejjun)  are  situated  ;  and  also  the 
eastern  extension  of  that  valley  towards  the  Jordan,  beneath 
Jezreel  (Zer'tn)  from  Beth>shean  {Beisdn),  as  far  south  as 
Abel-meholah.  Zarethan  and  Jokmeam  have  not  been  certainly 
identified. 

13.  Sixth  District,  most  northerly  of  the  three  Trans-Jordanic 
districts,  having  its  centre  in  Bamoth-Gilead.  The  site  of  this 
important  frontier  town  has,  unfortunately,  not  yet  been  determined 
(see  on  xxii.  3).  The  common  identification  with  es-Salt  places 
it  much  too  far  south  for  our  passage  ;  for  the  region  of  Arg-ob 
(Deut.  iii.  4,  13,  14)  was  in  Bashan,  and  therefore  (roughly  speak- 
ing) north  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  Jebel  Hauran  to  the  Lake  of 
Galilee  ;  but  in  what  part  of  that  extensive  district  it  is  to  be  located 
we  do  not  know.  The  verse  contains  two  glosses  :  the  first 
('to  him  .  .  .  Gilead')  is  wanting  in  the  LXX  ;  the  second 
('threescore  great  .  .  .  bars ')  is  based  on  Deut.  iii.  4,  5. 

14.  Seventh  District,  also  east  of  the  Jordan,  with  its  dep6t  at 
Mahanaim,  which  was  apparently  the  capital  of  Gilead.  The  site 
is  again  uncertain.  The  most  attractive  identification  seems  that 
of  Robinson  and  Buhl,  who  place  it  at  Mahne,  a  few  miles  north- 
east of  the  town  of  Ajlun.     (But  see  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.j 

P-  587.) 

15-17.  Eighth^  Ninth  and  Tenth  Districts.  Recrossing  the 
Jordan,  we  come  to  Naphtali  (next  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and 
the  upper  Jordan),  Asher  (between  that  and  the  Mediterranean), 
and  Issachar  (further  south  in  the  corner  between  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  and  the  vale  of  Jezreel). 

15.  Ahimaaz,  the  only  governor  whose  father  is  not  named,  is 
possibly  the  son  of  Zadok  (2  Sam.  xv.  27) ;  he  also  was  a  son-in- 
law  of  Solomon. 


94  I  KINGS  4.  16-20.     A  Z 

he  also  took  Basemath  the  daughter  of  Solomon  to  wife : 

16  Baana    the   son   of   Hushai,   in    Asher    and    Bealbth : 

[7,  isjehoshaphat  the  son  of  Paruah,  in  Issachar  :  Shimei  the 

19  son  of  Ela,  in  Benjamin  :  Geber  the  son  of  Uri,  in  the 
land  of  Gilead,  the  country  of  Sihon  king  of  the 
Amorites  and  of  Og  king  of  Bashan ;  and  he  was  the 

20  only  officer  which  was   in  the  land.     [Z]  Judah   and 

16.  Hushai  may  be  the  friend  of  David  (2  Sam.  xv,  32,  &c.). 
A  place  Bealotli  is  not  known  :  MSS.  of  the  LXX  (B  and  A)  read 
'Maaleh'  or   <Maaloth,'   which  has  been  thought  to   mean  the 

*  Ladder '  of  Tyre  (on  which  see  Camb.  Bible  on  i  Mace.  xi.  59). 

18.  Eleventh  District,  Benjamin,  immediately  north  of  Jerusalem. 

19.  Twelfth  District,  and  southernmost  of  the  Trans-Jordanic 
districts,  in  the  land  of  Gad  (so  we  must  read  with  the  LXX), 
the  country  of  Sihon,  which  latter  extended  'from  the  Jabbok 
to  the  Arnon  '  (Num.  xxi.  34). 

and  of  Og"  king*  of  Bashan  is  an  incorrect  gloss ;  Bashan  is 
already  disposed  of  in  verse  13. 

The  last  clause,  lit.  '  and  one  officer  who  was  in  the  land,'  gives 
no  sense.     The  most  facile  expedient  would  be  to  read  with  LXX 

*  in  the  land  of  Judah,'  taking  on  the  first  word  of  the  next  verse. 
But  that  is  encumbered  by  several  obvious  difficulties.  This  part 
of  the  text  has  in  any  case  suffered  much  disturbance,  and  it  is 
hardly  worth  while  to  try  to  bring  it  into  order. 

iv.  20, 21,  24,  25.  Prosperity  and  greatness  0/ Solomons  Kingdom. 
The  section  from  verse  20  to  verse  28  is  entirely  lacking  in  unity,  and 
shows  signs  of  great  textual  disorder,  which  can  partly  be  rectified 
by  the  help  of  the  LXX.  In  that  version  the  list  of  governors 
(7-19)  is  immediately  followed  by  the  description  of  their  duties 
(27,  28)  ;  and  this  again  by  the  account  of  the  daily  purveyance 
for  the  royal  establishment  (22,  23).  This  may  be  accepted  as  the 
natural  and  original  order  ;  and  in  that  order  the  passage  may 
probably  be  assigned  to  the  same  annalistic  source  as  verses  1-19. 
Verses  20,  21  and  24,  25,  on  the  other  hand,  are  two  post- 
redactional  additions  ;  while  verse  26,  though  genuine,  stands  here 
out  of  its  proper  context  in  x.  26  ^  In  the  Hebrew,  ch.  v 
commences  with  iv.  21  of  the  E.  V. 

^  With  regard  to  the  position  of  the  verses  in  the  LXX,  the  facts 
are  as  follows:  Verses  20,  21  are  practically  identical  with  Swete's 
ii.  46*,^  (see  the  note  on  p.  80  above)  ;  and  24,  25  with  ii.  46',  ^ 
(where,  as  here,  they  follow  Immediately  on  the  account  of  Solomon's 


I  KINGS  J.  21-24.     ZAZ  9$ 

Israel  were  many,  as  the  sand  which  is  by  the  sea  in 
multitude,  eating  and  drinking  and  making  merry. 

And  Solomon  ruled  over  all  the  kingdoms  from  the  21 
River  unto  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and  unto  the 
border  of   Egypt :   they  brought  presents,   and   served 
Solomon  all  the  days  of  his  life.     [A]  And  Solomon's  22 
provision  for  one  day  was  thirty  measures  of  fine  flour, 
and  threescore  measures  of  meal ;    ten  fat  oxen,  and  23 
twenty  oxen  out  of  the  pastures,  and  an  hundred  sheep, 
beside  harts,  and  gazelles,  and  roebucks,  and  fatted  fov,'l. 
[Z]  For  he  had  dominion  over  all  the  region  on  this  side  24 

20.  as  the  sand:  a  common  comparison  ;  see  Gen.  xxii.  17  ; 
Joshua  xi.  4  ;  Judges  vii.  12  ;  2  Sam.  xvii.  11,  &c. 

21.  the  Biver  par  excellence  is,  as  often,  the  Euphrates.  The 
closing  words  of  the  verse  are  inconsistent  with  the  facts  related 
in  ch.  xi;  and  the  whole  conception  of  Solomon's  age  as  a  halcyon 
period  of  Hebrew  history  appears  to  be  late. 

iv.  82,  23.  Daily  provision  for  Solomon's  table.  To  be  read  after 
verse  28. 

22.  The  *  cor '  (marg.)  or  homer  is  estimated  as  approximately 
=  11  bushels  (see  Kennedy  in  DB,  iv.  p.  91a).  Kittel  calculates 
that  the  quantities  named  would  sustain  33,000  to  36,000  persons,  or 
3,000  to  4,000  households,  and  does  not  consider  the  numbers 
excessive. 

23.  The  word  for  fowl  (barburim)  is  unknown  elsewhere  ;  but 
the  traditional  interpretation  is  no  doubt  correct. 

24.  on  this  side  the  Biver  must  be  rendered  as  in  the  marg., 
'  beyond  the  River.'  The  phrase  does  not  necessarily  imply  that 
the  writer  lived  east  of  the  Euphrates  ;  for  it  seems  to  have  been 

daily  provision);  verse  26  =  ii.  46',  being  separated  from  46^  by  the 
list  of  ministers  corresponding  to  iv.  2-6.  In  the  LXX,  verse  24  occurs 
also  in  its  place  in  the  Hebrew,  while  21  is  partly  repeated  in  ii.  46**, 
and  also  between  verses  26  and  27  of  ch.  x  of  the  E.  V.  Verses  25 
and  26  are  found  in  LXX  only  in  ii.  46.  These  phenomena  are 
susceptible  of  a  double  explanation:  (i)  the  LXX  of  ii.  46  might 
have  been  compiled  from  the  present  Hebrew  text  (including  its 
glosses) ;  or  (2)  it  might  have  been  put  together  at  an  earlier  stage 
of  the  Hebrew,  and  afterwards  used  to  supplement  the  Hebrew 
MSS.  Possibly  both  processes  will  have  to  be  allowed  for  j  but  the 
subject  cannot  be  pursued  further  here. 


96  I  KINGS  4.  25-28.     ZA 

the  River,  from  Tiphsah  even  to  Gaza,  over  all  the  kings 
on  this  side  the  River :  and  he  had  peace  on  all  sides 

25  round  about  him.  And  Judah  and  Israel  dwelt  safely, 
every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig  tree,  from 
Dan  even  to  Beer-sheba,  all  the  days  of  Solomon.     [A] 

26  And  Solomon  had  forty  thousand  stalls  of  horses  for  his 

27  chariots,  and  twelve  thousand  horsemen.  And  those 
officers  provided  victual  for  king  Solomon,  and  for  all 
that  came  unto  king  Solomon's  table,  every  man  in  his 

28  month :  they  let  nothing  be  lacking.  Barley  also  and 
straw  for  the  horses  and  swift  steeds  brought  they  unto 


the  official  designation  in  the  Persian  period  of  the  Syrian  satrapy, 
to  which  Palestine  belonged  (see  Ezra  iv.  17,  &c.  ;  Neh.  ii.  9).  It 
is,  in  any  case,  an  indication  of  late  date. 

Tiphsah  is  'Thapsacus,'  the  most  important  crossing-place  in 
the  middle  course  of  the  Euphrates,  above  the  confluence  of  the 
Balih  (Xenophon,  A/iab.  I.  iv.  ;  Arrian,  Anab.  iii.  7).  The  name 
probably  means  *  ford,'  being  derived  from  pdsah,  the  root  of  the 
Hebrew  word  for  '  Passover.' 

The  phrase  from  Tiphsah  .  .  .  River  seems  to  be  later  than 
the  rest  of  the  verse  ;  it  is  wanting  in  the  LXX  here,  though 
occurring  in  ii.  46*^. 

on  all  sides  is  a  better  reading  than  marg.,  "with  all  his 
servants,'  from  which  it  difters  but  in  a  single  Hebrew  letter. 

25.  under  his  vine:  cf.  2  Kings  xviii.  31  ;  Mic.  iv.  4  ;  Zech. 
iii.  10. 

from  Dan  .  .  .  Beer-sheba :  the  north  and  south  extremities 
of  the  Israelitish  territory  :  Judges  xx.  i ;  i  Sam.  iii.  20,  &c. 

iv.  26.     Solomon^ s  horses  and  chariots. 
toTty  thousand  stalls  .  .  .  twelve  thousand  horsemen: 

cf.  the  numbers  in  x.  26  (=  2  Chron.  i.  14),  1,400  chariots  .  .  . 
12,000  horsemen  ;  and  2  Chron.  ix.  25,  4,000  stalls  .  .  .  12,000 
horsemen.  The  figures  probably  stood  originally  as  in  x.  26,  from 
which  the  notice  was  taken  as  a  gloss  to  iv.  28.     See  below. 

iv.  27,  28.  Tribute  of  the  Governors.  Continuation  of  iv.  19, 
expanding  iv.  7. 

27.  those  officers  :  those  named  in  verses  8-19. 

all  that  came  (or,  '  had  access  to ') .  .  .  tabic  :  like  the  sons  of 
Barzillai  ;  see  on  ii.  7. 


I    KINGS  4.  29-r.i.     AZ  97 

the  place  where  the  officers  were,  every  man  according  to 
his  charge. 

[Z]   And   God   gave   Solomon   wisdom    and    under-  29 
standing  exceeding  much,  and  largeness  of  heart,  even 
as  the  sand  that  is  on  the  sea  shore.     And  Solomon's  30 
wisdom  excelled  the  wisdom  of  all  the  children  of  the 
east,  and  all  the  wisdom  of  Egypt.     For  he  was  wiser  31 

28.  where  the  officers  were :  rather  '  where  they  (i.  e.  the 
horses)  were ' ;  the  cavalry  being  distributed  at  various  places 
throughout  the  country  ;  see  x.  26. 

iv.  29-34.  Solomon's  wisdom  and  its  world-wide  fame  (  =  Hebrew, 
V.  9-14).  The  greatness  of  Solomon's  wisdom  is  first  celebrated 
(29-31),  then  the  forms  in  which  it  expressed  itself  (32)  and  its 
character  (33),  and  finally  the  impression  it  made  oh  his  con- 
temporaries far  and  near  (34).  The  passage  can  hardly  have 
come  from  an  ancient  source.  The  conception  of  wisdom  which 
it  reveals  is  different  from  what  we  meet  in  iii.  5-28 :  there  the 
practical  insight  and  sagacity  of  the  judge,  here  the  literary, 
reflective  criticism  of  life  in  general  which  was  so  largely  developed 
in  later  times.  That  Solomon  excelled  in  both  directions  is  not  to 
be  doubted  ;  but  the  enumeration  of  his  wise  sayings  seems  to 
presuppose  an  extensive  Solomonic  literature,  such  as  we  have  in 
the  Books  of  Proverbs,  Job,  and  Canticles  (see  Cheyne,  Jewish 
Religions  Life  after  the  Exile,  p.  129).  The  whole  tone  of  the 
section — its  vague  generalities,  its  backward  look  to  the  shadowy 
personages  of  a  hoary  antiquity,  is  unlike  anything  found  in  the 
contemporary  documents  of  the  Monarchy.  For  these  reasons  it 
is  doubtful  if  it  be  even  as  old  as  the  Deuteronomic  compiler  : 
more  probably  it  is  post-Exilic.  The  last  verse  suggests  that  the 
passage  may  have  been  the  introduction  to  the  story  of  the  queen 
of  Sheba  (x.  1-13),  and  may  come  from  the  same  source.  If  so, 
it  must  have  been  inserted  at  this  point  to  introduce  the  embassy 
of  Hiram,  the  first  foreign  potentate  who  (in  the  view  of  the  editor) 
was  attracted  by  the  wisdom  of  Solomon. 

29.  larsreness  of  heart :  'breadth  of  mind.'  The  Greek  word 
used  by  the  LXX  {chumd)  seems  to  have  suggested  Cheyne's 
interesting  but  quite  unnecessary  emendation  ;  '  a  mind  "seething" 
with  new  ideas  '  (loc.  cit.  p.  128). 

30.  the  children  of  the  east.  The  expression  is  commonly 
applied  to  the  Arabs  of  the  Eastern  deserts  (Job  i.  3  ;  Ezek.  xxv. 
4,  10,  &c.),  also  to  Mesopotamia  (Gen.  xxix.  i) ;  but  here  it  may 
refer  to  th£  far  East,  especially  the  Babylonians.  (But  see 
Burney's  note  on  p.  50  f.) 


98  I  KINGS  4.  r,2-34-     Z 

than  all  men;   than  Ethan  the  Ezrahite,  and  Heman, 
and  Calcol,  and  Darda,  the  sons  of  Mahol :   and  his 

32  fame  was  in  all  the  nations  round  about.  And  he  spake 
three  thousand  proverbs  :  and  his  songs  were  a  thousand 

33  and  five.  And  he  spake  of  trees,  from  the  cedar  that  is 
in  Lebanon  even  unto  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of 
the  wall :  he  spake  also  of  beasts,  and  of  fowl,  and  of 

34  creeping  things,  and  of  fishes.  And  there  came  of  all 
peoples  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  from  all  kings 
of  the  earth,  which  had  heard  of  his  wisdom. 


31.  Nothing  is  known  of  the  four  persons  named  in  this  verse, 
except  that  they  must  have  been  famous  sages  of  the  olden  time. 
In  I  Chron.  ii.  6  they  are  given  as  descendants  of  Zerah  son  of 
Judah;  but  this  does  not  exclude  the  possibility  that  they  were  really 
Edomites ;  since  Edomite  clans  were  incorporated  in  the  tribe  of 
Judah.  Some  think,  but  with  little  justification,  that  they  may 
have  been  mythical  heroes  of  Babylonia,  identifying  Ethan  with 
the  legendary  Etana  (Jastrow,  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria, 
p.  519).  EthaA  and  Hexnau  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Levitical  singers  of  the  same  names  mentioned  in  i  Chron.  vi.  33, 
44  (cf.  the  titles  of  Psalms  Ixxxviii,  Ixxxix). 

32.  proverbs  .  .  .  song-s  :  i.  e.  gnomic  and  lyric  poetry,  the  two 
great  branches  of  Hebrew  poetic  composition.  The  proverb 
{mashdl)  was  originally  a  comparison  or  simile  (of  which  we  have 
many  examples  in  the  older  parts  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs),  then 
a  gnomic  saying  in  general.  Similarly  the  song  {shir)  includes  all 
varieties  of  lyrical  poetry. 

33.  he  spake  of  trees.  What  is  here  ascribed  to  Solomon  is 
neither  on  the  one  hand  a  scientific  knowledge  of  Natural  History, 
nor  on  the  other  (as  late  Jewish  legend  imagined)  a  knowledge  of 
the  language  of  the  creatures,  enabling  him  to  converse  with  them. 
It  is  simply  the  faculty  of  drawing  lessons  for  human  instruction, 
based  on  observation  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  worlds.  Note 
the  four  conventional  subdivisions  of  the  latter  :  beasts,  birds, 
reptiles,  fishes. 

hyssop :  a  small  wall-growing  plant,  greatly  used  in  cere- 
monial sprinklings.  The  botanical  species  has  not  been  certainly 
identified.  The  '  h3'ssop '  of  the  Greeks  {Hyssopus  officinalis), 
prevalent  in  Southern  Europe,  has  not  been  found  in  Palestine. 

[After  verse  34,  the  LXX  inserts  its  notice  of  Solomon's  marriage, 
and  of  the  dowry  which  his  Egyptian  wife  brought  to  him,  the 


I  KINGS  5.  i-^     S  D  99 

[S]  And  Hiram  king  of  Tyre  sent  his  servants  unto  5 
Solomon ;  for  he  had  heard  that  they  had  anointed  him 
king  in  the  room  of  his  father:  for  Hiram  was  ever  a 
lover  of  David.     And  Solomon  sent  to  Hiram,  saying,  2 
[Dl  Thou  knowest  how  that  David  my  father  could  not  3 
build  an  house  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God  for 

possession  of  the  town  of  Gezer:  iii.  i,  ix.  16  ;  see  the  notes  on 
these  verses.] 

V.    Preparations  for  the  Biiildutg  of  the  Temple. 

V.  i-ia.  Preliminary  negotiations  with  Hiram  (=  Hebrew,  v. 
15-26).  Hiram  king  of  Tyre  sends  an  embassy  to  Solomon  to  con- 
gratulate him  on  his  succession;  and  Solomon  takes  the  opportunity 
to  solicit  his  assistance  in  his  cherished  project  of  building  a  temple 
to  Yahweh.  Hiram,  himself  a  great  builder,  as  well  as  an  old  ally 
of  David,  readily  accedes  ;  and  agrees  to  furnish  timber  and  skilled 
labour  in  return  for  an  annual  contribution  of  natural  produce. 
The  narrative  has  been  revised  by  the  compiler  of  Kings  (verses 
3-5,  7,  12),  who  thus  early  reveals  his  interest  in  all  that  pertained 
to  the  temple.  The  account  in  the  original  source  (S  ?)  cannot, 
however,  have  been  materially  different ;  though  it  is  probable 
that  the  royal  palace  would  be  mentioned  as  well  as  the  temple. 
The  whole  passage  should  be  compared  with  the  highly  elaborated 
record  in  2  Chron.  ii.  3-16. 

1.  Hiram :  more  correctly  ^  Hirom,'  as  in  verses  10,  18 
(Assyrian,  Hirummn  ;  Josephus,  Heiromos).  According  to  the 
calculation  of  Winckler  (KAT^,  p.  129),  Hiram  I  reigned  c.  968- 
935  B.C.  The  reckoning  is  based  on  the  Chronicle  of  Menander  of 
Ephesus,  quoted  by  Josephus  (Con/.  Ap.  i.  1 17-126,  154-160); 
and  the  result  agrees  fairly  well  with  the  chronology  of  Kings. 
Menander  gives  a  legendary  account  of  the  intercourse  between 
Hiram  and  Solomon,  in  which  they  try  to  puzzle  each  other  with 
riddles,  and  Hiram's  adviser  always  comes  off  best  {Ant.  viii.  148). 
a  lover  of:  'friendly  to.'  The  LXX  has  a  strange  reading 
of  this  verse  :  'And  Hiram  sent  his  servants  to  anoint  Solomon 
instead  of  David  his  father,  for,'  &c.  This  might  have  some 
significance  as  countenancing  a  speculation  of  Winckler*s,  that 
Solomon  was  really  a  vassal  of  Tyre  ;  although  the  relation  is 
almost  reversed  by  the  Biblical  writers  (see  on  ix.  11  flf.).  That  it 
was  customary  for  a  vassal  to  be  anointed  by  his  suzerain  appears 
from  the  Tel-Amarna  tablets  {KIB,  v.  99 ;  see  KA  T^,  p.  237  f.). 

3.  could  not  build.  Three  reasons  are  given  for  David's  not 
having  built  a  temple:  (i)  in  2  Sam.  vii  he  is  forbidden  to  do  so 

H  2 


loo  I    KINGS  5.  4-S.     D  S 

the  wars  which  were  about  him  on  every  side,  until  the 

4  Lord  put  them  under  the  soles  of  his  feet.  But  now 
the  Lord  my  God  hath  given  me  rest  on  every  side; 

5  there  is  neither  adversary,  nor  evil  occurrent.  And, 
behold,  I  purpose  to  build  an  house  for  the  name  of  the 
Lord  my  God,  as  the  Lord  spake  unto  David  my 
father,  saying,  Thy  son,  whom  I  will  set  upon  thy  throne 
in  thy  room,   he  shall  build  the  house  for  my  name. 

6  [S]  Now  therefore  command  thou  that  they  hew  me 
cedar  trees  out  of  Lebanon ;  and  my  servants  shall  be 
with  thy  servants;  and  I  will  give  thee  hire  for  thy 
servants  according  to  all  that  thou  shalt  say :  for  thou 
knowest  that  there  is  not  among  us  any  that  can  skill  to 

7  hew  timber  like  unto  the  Zidonians.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  when  Hiram  heard  the  words  of  Solomon,  that  he 
rejoiced  greatly,  and  said.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  this  day, 
which  hath  given  unto  David  a  wise  son  over  this  great 

8  people.     And  Hiram  sent  to  Solomon,  saying,  I  have 

because  such  a  sanctuary  was  inconsistent  with  the  primitive 
simplicity  of  the  worship  of  Yahweh  ;  (2)  here  the  reason  is  that 
David  was  hindered  by  his  incessant  wars ;  (3)  in  i  Chron.  xxii.  8  flf., 
xxviii.  2  f.,  it  is  because  he  was  pei-sonally  unfit,  his  hands  being 
stained  with  blood. 

which  were    abont    him:     or,    <  with    which    they    (men) 
surrounded  him.' 

4.  hath  given  me  rest:  2  Sam.  vii.  i,  11.  This  is  the  true 
Deuteronomic  standpoint :  the  law  of  the  one  sanctuary  does  not 
come  into  force  until  Israel  has  received  rest  from  its  enemies 
(Deut.  xii.  9,  ic,  xxv.  19). 

neither  adversary :  i.  e.  for  the  present ;  see  on  ch.  xi. 

5.  Thy  son  .  .  .  name :  quoted  from  a  Sam,  vii.  13,  which  is 
apparently  itself  a  Deuteronomic  gloss  on  the  original  narrative. 

6.  the  Zidonians :  i.  e.  Phoenicians,  who  in  early  times  were 
known  by  the  name  of  their  most  important  ancient  city. 

7.  the  LOBD.  The  reading  of  LXX  (L),  '  Yahweh  the  God  of 
Israel,'  is  more  appropriate  in  the  mouth  of  a  foreigner.  The 
cordiality  of  Hiram's  response  is  remarkable ;  but  it  did  not  of 
course  imply  that  he  was  himself  a  worshipper  of  Yahweh. 


I  KINGS  5.  9-12.     SD  loi 

heard  the  message  which  thou  hast  sent  unto  me :  I  will 
do  all  thy  desire  concerning  timber  of  cedar,  and  con- 
cerning timber  of  fir.     My  servants  shall   bring  them   9 
down  from  Lebanon  unto  the  sea :    and  I  will  make 
them  into  rafts  to  go  by  sea  unto  the  place  that  thou 
shalt  appoint  me,  and  will  cause  them  to  be  broken  up 
there,   and   thou   shalt   receive  them :    and   thou  shalt 
accomplish  my  desire,  in  giving  food  for  my  household. 
So  Hiram  gave  Solomon  timber  of  cedar  and  timber  of  10 
fir  according   to   all   his   desire.      And   Solomon   gave  n 
Hiram  twenty  thousand  measures  of  wheat  for  food  to 
his  household,  and  twenty  measures  of  pure  oil :   thus 
gave  Solomon  to  Hiram  year  by  year.     [D]  And  the  12 
Lord  gave  Solomon  wisdom,  as  he  promised  him ;  and 
there  was  peace  between  Hiram  and  Solomon ;  and  they 
two  made  a  league  together. 


9.  the  place  tliat  thou  shalt  appoint:  no  doubt  Joppa  {Jafa^ 
still  the  port  of  Jerusalem),  as  is  expressly  said  in  2  Chron.  ii.  16. 

11.  In  return  Solomon  pays  yearly  a  stipulated  amount  of 
produce,  whether  in  permanence  or  only  during  the  building  of 
the  temple  does  not  appear.  This  would  cover  both  the  price 
of  the  timber  and  the  hire  of  labour  (verse  6). 

On  the  *cor,'  see  on  iv.  22.  Instead  of  twenty  measures  of 
.  .  .  oil,  we  must  read,  with  LXX  :  '  twenty  thousand  baths  of .  .  . 
oil.'  The  '  bath '  was  a  liquid  measure,  equal  in  capacity  to  the 
'ephah,'  which  was  one-tenth  of  the  'homer'  or  'cor*  (approxi- 
mately equivalent  to  nine  gallons). 

pure  oil:  'beaten  oil,'  procured  by  pounding  the  olives  in 
a  mortar  instead  of  treading  them  in  a  press  :  the  finest  kind  of 
oil,  used  for  the  lamp  of  the  tabernacle,  &c.  (Exod.  xxvii.  20, 
xxix.  40 ;  Lev.  xxiv.  2 ;  Num.  xxviii.  5). 

12.  The  implied  connexion  probably  is  that  the  successful 
conduct  of  negotiations  so  advantageous  to  Solomon  was  due  to 
the  Divine  wisdom  with  which  he  was  inspired.  The  first  half  of 
the  verse  is  written  by  the  compiler ;  cf.  the  expression  as  he 
promised  him  with  Deut.  i.  21,  vi.  3,  ix.  3,  and  many  other 
instances  in  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy. 

made  a  league  :  '  a  covenant.'    In  strictness  this  would  mean 


I02  I  KINGS  5.  13-15.     S(?) 

13  [S  (?)]  And  king  Solomon  raised  a  levy  out  of  all  Israel ; 

14  and  the  levy  was  thirty  thousand  men.  And  he  sent 
them  to  Lebanon,  ten  thousand  a  month  by  courses :  a 
month  they  were  in  Lebanon,  and  two  months  at  home  : 

15  and  Adoniram  was  over  the  levy.  And  Solomon  had 
threescore  and  ten  thousand  that  bare  burdens,  and 
fourscore  thousand  that  were  hewers  in  the  mountains ; 

a  compact  ratified  by  solemn  and  peculiar  religious  ceremonies  ; 
see  Davidson,  in  DB^  i.  509  ft'. 

V.  13-18.  The  Preparation  of  Materials  (  =  Hebrew,  verses  27-32). 
An  army  of  30,000  labourers  is  raised  from  all  Israel,  by  means  of 
the  corvee;  these  are  divided  into  three  equal  bands,  which  arc 
sent  in  turn  for  a  month  each  to  cut  trees  in  Lebanon.  Besides 
these  a  much  larger  number  (70,000  burden-bearers,  and  80,000 
quarriers,  under  3,300  foremen)  arc  set  to  hew  stones  in  the  hill- 
country  of  Palestine.  In  this  way,  and  with  the  assistance  of 
Hiram's  skilled  workmen,  the  stones  and  timber  are  made  ready 
for  the  erection  of  the  temple.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  ii.  2,  17,  18.)  It  is 
impossible  to  say  for  certain  from  what  source  the  passage  is 
taken  :  it  might  be  either  the  continuation  of  verses  1-12,  or 
an  introduction  to  ch.  vi,  or  an  independent  extract  from  the 
annals. 

13.  a  levy:   '  a  labour  band  '  ;  see  on  iv.  6 

out  of  all  Israel.  The  statement  is  in  direct  opposition  to 
ix.  20-22  (see  on  the  passage),  and  impUcitly  at  variance  with  the 
parallel  in  2  Chron.  ii.  17  f. 

14.  by  courses :  *  in  relaj's.' 
Adoniram :  see  on  iv.  6. 

15.  16.  The  numbers  in  these  two  verses  have  been  suspected 
of  exaggeration,  in  comparison  with  the  more  moderate  figures  of 
verses  13  f.  The  chronicler  (who  is  fond  of  large  figures)  passes 
over  the  30,000  of  verse  13  ;  and  this  may  mean  that  he  followed 
authorities  in  which  the  smaller  estimate  had  been  replaced  by  the 
larger.  On  the  other  hand,  the  two  statements  do  not  appear  to 
be  duplicates  :  the  one  refers  to  those  who  were  sent  to  cut  timber 
in  Lebanon,  and  the  other  to  those  who  laboured  in  the  quarries 
at  home.  Nor  can  we  say  that  the  numbers  are  excessive  in 
relation  to  the  work  to  be  done,  v/hen  we  consider  the  waste  of 
life  incident  to  the  system  of  forced  labour. 

in  the  mountains:  i.e.  (probably)  not  Lebanon,  but  the 
hill-country  of  Palestine  ;  where  the  limestone  rock  yielded  good 
building  stone,  soft  when  first  quarried,  but  hardening  under 
exposure  to  the  weather. 


I  KINGS  6.  i6~>G.  r.     S  (?)  7  103 

besides  Solomon's  chief  officers  that  were  over  the  work,  16 
three  thousand  and  three  hundred,  which  bare  rule  over 
the  people  that  wrought  in  the  work.     And'  the  king  17 
commanded,  and  they  hewed  out  great  stones,  costly 
stones,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  house  with  wrought 
stone.     And  Solomon's  builders  and  Hiram's  builders  18 
and  the  Gebalites  did  fashion  them,  and  prepared  the 
timber  and  the  stones  to  build  the  house. 

[?]  And   it  came  to  pass  in  the  four  hundred  and  6 

16.  See  on  ix.  23.  For  3,300,  Chron.  and  LXX  (B)  have  3,600  ; 
one  officer  to  every  fifty  of  the  total  body  of  labourers. 

17.  hewed  out :  *  quarried.'  The  stones  were  costly  on  account 
of  their  size. 

to  lay  the  foundation  :  see  vii.  10. 

wrougfht  stone  :  (Heb.  gazith).  There  were  several  degrees 
of  finish  :  sometimes  only  the  four  fitting  surfaces  were  accurately 
squared  and  dressed,  leaving  the  outer  surface  in  the  rough  ;  very 
often  the  margins  of  the  outer  face  were  finely  chiselled  to 
a  breadth  of  a  few  inches  ;  and  at  other  times  the  whole  outer 
surface  (with  or  without  a  depressed  margin)  was  smoothed. 

18.  the  Gebalites :  men  of  Gebal,  now  Jebeil,  the  Byblus  of 
the  Greeks,  about  twenty  miles  north  of  Beirut.  Assuming  the 
correctness  of  the  text,  these  Gebalites  must  have  been  famous 
stone-masons  of  Phoenicia,  specially  engaged  by  Solomon.  The 
LXX,  however,  reads  a  verb  ;  and  it  has  been  thought  that  an 
otherwise  unknown  technical  term  of  masonry  may  be  the  original 
reading  :  'And  Solomon's  and  Hiram's  masons  hewed  them,  and 
provided  them  with  bordcra.'' 

vi.  Description  of  the  Temple  Buildings. 

The  document  from  which  this  account  is  taken  was  in  all 
probabihty  written  by  a  contemporary  of  Solomon  ;  but  is  hardly 
likely  to  have  belonged  to  the  State  records  of  the  kingdom. 
The  writer  was  evidently  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  temple,  while 
his  descriptions  of  the  other  royal  buildings  (vii.  i  if.)  are  so  vague 
as  to  suggest  that  he  had  never  seen  the  inside  of  them.  Such  a 
paper  would  not  naturally  be  preserved  in  the  palace  archives : 
more  probably  its  author  belonged  to  the  ranks  of  the  priesthood. 
Although  the  general  outlines  are  clear  enough,  the  details  are 
frequently  quite  unintelligible  :  this  is  due  partly  to  the  highly 
technical  character  of  the  description,  but  partly  also  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  text,  which  is  amongst  the  w  orst  preserved  portions 


lo4  1  KINGS  G.  1.     ? 

eightieth  year  after  the  children  of  Israel  were  come  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  fourth  year  of  Solomon's 

of  the  O.  T.  Light  is  thrown  on  many  points  by  the  much  more 
lucid  description  of  Ezekiers  temple,  which,  though  only  an 
ideal,  is  evidently  based  for  the  most  part  on  reminiscences  of  the 
first  temple. 

The  passage  may  be  divided  into  six  sections,  as  follows:  (i) 
the  main  structural  features  of  the  temple  building,  with  its  portico 
and  side-chambers,  2-10  ;  (2)  the  internal  arrangement  of  the 
house  and  its  decoration.  15-22  ;  (3)  description  of  the  cheru- 
bim, 33-28  ;  (4)  the  doors,  31-35  ;  (5)  the  inner  court,  36 ; 
and  (6)  chronological  notices,  37,  38.  Verses  i,  7,  11-14  arc 
editorial  additions  ;  and  minor  glosses  and  interpolations  are  very 
numerous. 

vi.  I.  Date  of  the  Foundation  of  the  Temple.  Twelve  genera- 
tions after  the  Exodus,  in  the  second  month  of  the  fourth  year  of 
Solomon,  the  work  was  commenced.  The  verse  is  assigned  to  an 
editor  on  several  grounds  :  {a)  The  Hebrew  word  for  *  month  ' 
{hodesh)  is  different  from  that  used  in  the  old  documents  {yetah, 
^T-  37?  38,  viii.  a).  Moreover,  the  practice  of  numbenng  the 
months  seems  to  have  been  introduced  on]\'  towards  the  age  of 
the  Exile.  (J?)  The  round  number  480  v twelve  generations:  has 
been  thought  to  belong  to  an  artificial  chronological  scheme, 
which  assigned  an  equal  duration  to  the  interval  between  the 
founding  of  the  first  and  that  of  the  second  templet  (c)  The 
chronological  statement  of  the  primary  document  occurs  in  verses 
37.  38  (where  it  breaks  the  connexion)  ;  it  probably  stood  origin- 
ally here,  and  was  afterwards  displaced  in  favour  of  verse  i. 
(dj  The  verse  stands  in  the  LXX  in  another  and  obviousli'  un- 
suitable place  ^ 

^  The  sum  of  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of  judah  in  the  framework 
amounts  precisely  to  430  years;  if  we  add  the  50  years  of  Exile, 
we  have  a  second  period  of  4S0  years  from  the  foundation  of  Solomon's 
temple  to  the  return  from  captivity.     See  further,  Burney,  p.  58ff. 

*  The  LXX  gives  an  entirely  different  arrangement  in  the  end  of 
ch.  V  and  the  beginning  of  ch.  vi,  which  is  here  quoted  in  full  for  the 
sake  of  comparison.  The  order  is  :  v.  iS**,  vi.  i,  v.  17,  iS',  vi.  37,  38, 
vi.  2.  After  verse  16  the  LXX  proceeds:  *And  they  prepared  the 
stones  and  the  timber  for  three  years.  [Omit  vi.  i].  And  they 
brought  great  costly  stones  for  the  foundation  of  the  house,  even 
hewn  stones.  And  the  sons  [read  builders]  of  Solomon  and  the  sons 
[builders]  of  Hiram  hewed  them  and  laid  them.  In  the  fourth  year 
he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  in  the  month  Xeisan 
and  the  second  month.     In  the  eleventh   year,  in  the  month  Baad 


I  KINGS  6.  3,  3.     ?  T  105 

reign  over  Israel,  in  the  month  Ziv,  which  is  the  second 
month,  that  he  began  to  build  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
[Tj  And  the  house  which  king  Solomon  built  for  the  2 
Lord,  the  length  thereof  was  threescore  cubits,  and  the 
breadth  thereof  twenty  cubits^  and  the  height  thereof 
thirty  cubits.     And  the  porch  before  the  temple  of  the  3 

in  the  fourth  year :  see  on  verses  37,  38. 
vi.  a- 10.  Main  stnidural  features  of  the  buildings  with  its  porch 
and  side-chambers.  The  temple  was  a  rectangular  building,  measur- 
ing sixty  cubits  in  length  (east  to  west),  twenty  in  breadth  (north 
to  south),  and  thirty  in  height ;  these,  of  course,  are  /«5/</^  measure- 
ments, as  appears  from  verse  20.  In  front  of  the  building  (east  side) 
was  an  entrance  hall  or  porch,  twenty  cubits  long  (north  to  south, 
corresponding  to  the  breadth  of  the  house)  and  ten  broad  (east 
to  west).  On  the  other  three  sides  (north,  west,  and  south)  there 
was  a  double  wall,  the  intervening  space  (five  cubits  at  the  base) 
being  occupied  by  rows  of  cells  in  three  stories.  Whether  these 
chambers  extended  along  the  sides  of  the  porch,  as  well  as  of  the 
main  building,  we  are  not  told.  Nor  is  the  thickness  of  the  walls 
specified  :  in  Ezekiel's  temple  the  inner  wall  was  six,  and  the  outer 
five,  cubits  thick  (Ezek.  xli.  5,  9).  In  general  appearance,  the  temple 
must  have  been  massive  rather  than  elegant ;  and  this  perhaps 
reflects  the  character  of  the  Phoenician  architecture,  regarding 
which  Renan  sa3's  :  *  The  architectural  principle  is  the  hewn 
rock,  not  as  in  Greece  the  column.  The  wall  takes  the  place  of 
the  hewn  rock,  without  altogether  losing  the  character  of  its 
original.'     (Quoted  by  Benzinger.) 

2.  The  cubit  {cubituni  =  e\ho\\ ,  Heb.  ^amfnah)^  the  length 
of  the  forearm,  is  the  Hebrew  unit  of  length.  Its  absolute  length 
is  not  quite  certainly  known.  Ezekiel  (xl.  5,  xliii.  13)  speaks  of 
two  cubits,  the  ordinary  cubit  (cf.  Deut.  iii.  11)  and  another  a 
handbreadth  longer;  and  from  2  Chron.  iii.  3  it  may  perhaps  be 
inferred  that  the  longer  cubit  was  used  in  the  building  of  Solomon's 
temple.  It  may  be  roughly  estimated  as  twenty  inches  (sec 
Kennedy,  DB,  iv.  p.  906  flf.).  The  inner  dimensions  of  the  house 
would  then  be  approximately  100  ft.  x  33i  x  5o- 

3.  the  temple  of  the  house.  On  the  sense  of  this  expression 
see  below  on  verse  17. 

[Bui],  which  is  the  eighth  month,  the  house  was  finished  in  all  its 
parts  and  all  its  arrangements.  And  the  house  which,'  &c.  That  the 
position  here  given  to  vi.  i  is  impossible  requires  no  proof;  but  it  is 
by  no  means  obvious  that  otherwise  the  arrangement  is  as  a  whole 
inferior  to  that  of  the  Massoretic  text. 


io6  I  KINGS  6.  4-6.     T 

house,  twenty  cubits  was  the  length  thereof,  according  to 
the   breadth   of  the   house;    and  ten   cubits   was    the 

4  breadth  thereof  before  the  house.     And  for  the  house 

5  he  made  windows  of  fixed  lattice-work.  And  against 
the  wall  of  the  house  he  built  stories  round  about, 
against  the  walls  of  the  house  round  about,  both  of  the 
temple  and  of  the  oracle :   and  he  made  side-chambers 

6  round    about :    the    nethermost   story   was    five  cubits 

4.  windows.  The  outer  wall  being  lower  than  the  inner,  there 
was  a  sort  of  *  clerestory '  of  at  least  ten  cubits  deep  ;  and  in  this 
the  windows  must  have  been  placed.  What  is  meant  by  the  words 
rendered  of  fixed  lattice-work  remains  obscure.  The  ancient 
versions  seem  all  to  have  thought  of  apertures  obliquely  cut  in  the 
wall  (i.  e.  narrowing  towards  the  outside),  and  somehow  closed 
or  concealed  (see  marg.).  The  translation  in  the  text  reproduces 
the  view  of  most  moderns,  that  the  windows  are  described  as 
'  fitted  with  beams,'  and  '  closed '  (with  lattice- work)  in  contrast 
to  the  windows  of  private  houses,  which  could  be  opened  or  closed 
at  pleasure.  Since  artificial  light  was  used  in  the  temple,  we  may 
assume  that  very  little  light  came  through  the  windows,  and  that 
the  apertures  were  intended  more  for  ventilation  than  for  illumina- 
tion. 

5.  The  meaning  of  the  word  for  stories  Cydzia,  only  here  and 
verse  lo)  is  conjectured  from  what  follows.  It  is  taken  to  denote 
the  whole  of  the  outer  building  enclosing  three  sides  of  the  temple, 
within  which  were  the  cells  to  which  the  description  immediately 
passes.  Properly,  it  means  '  bed  '  (flat  surface  ?)  ;  and  it  might 
fairly  be  questioned  if  it  has  anything  to  do  with  the  cells  at  all, 
though  no  other  plausible  interpretation  suggests  itself. 

round  about,  against  the  walls  of  the  house :  omit  these 
words,  and  read  simply  :  -  round  about  the  temple  and  the  oracle  ' 
(so  LXX  (B)  and  (L) ).     On  the  oracle  see  on  verse  i6. 

side-chambers :  or,  '  cells  '  (lif.  '  ribs ').  In  Ezekiel's  temple 
there  were  thirty  such  cells  in  each  of  the  three  stories  ;  their  use 
would  be  for  storing  the  treasures,  and  gifts  of  all  kinds  of  produce 
pertaining  to  a  great  national  sanctuary. 

6.  the  nethermost  story :  read  with  LXX,  *  the  nethermost 
cell,'  or  rather,  ^  row  of  cells.'  The  widening  of  the  upper  stories 
is  caused  by  rebatements  or  contractions  on  the  outside  of  the 
inner  wall.  If  (as  is  probable)  corresponding  ledges  were  made 
on  the  inside  of  the  outer  wall,  the  depth  of  each  rebatement  would 
be  half  a  cubit.     Thus  the  beams  which  made  the  ceiling  of  the 


I07 


io8  I  KINGS  6.  7-10.     TZT 

broad,  and  the  middle  was  six  cubits  broad,  and  the 
third  was  seven  cubits  broad :  for  on  the  outside  he 
made  rebatements  in  the  wall  of  the  house  round  about, 
that  the  beams  should  not  have  hold  in  the  walls  of  the 

7  house.  [Z]  And  the  house,  when  it  was  in  building, 
was  built  of  stone  made  ready  at  the  quarry :  and  there 
was  neither  hammer  nor  axe  nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard 

8  in  the  house,  while  it  was  in  building.  [Tj  The  door 
for  the  middle  side-chambers  was  in  the  right  side  of  the 
house:  and  they  went  up  by  winding  stairs  into  the 
middle  chambers^  and  out  of  the  middle  into  the  third. 

9  So  he  built  the  house,  and  finished  it ;  and  he  covered 
ro  the  house  with  beams  and  planks  of  cedar.     And  he 

built  the  stories  against  all  the  house,  each  five  cubits 

lower  cell  and  the  floor  of  the  upper  were  supported  on  the  wall, 
instead  of  <  taking  hold  '  of  it  by  piercing  the  surface. 

*J,  The  verse  interrupts  the  description  of  the  cells,  and  is  either 
misplaced  or  is  an  addition  by  a  later  hand. 

8.  To  the  whole  complex  of  cells,  there  was  but  a  single 
entrance  in  the  right  (i.  e.  'south')  side  {lit,  '  shoulder')  of  the 
house.  Through  this  access  was  obtained  to  the  '  lowest '  (so  wc 
must  read  with  LXX  and  Targum  :  see  margin)  tier  of  chambers  ; 
the  higher  tiers  were  reached  by  means  of  stairs  or  ladders. 

winding  stairs  is  the  sense  suggested  by  the  LXX  and 
Vulgate,  which,  however,  seem  to  have  read  the  text  differently. 
Stade  has  argued  forcibly  that  the  Hebrew  word  denotes  an  ar- 
rangement of  ladders  and  trap-doors. 

9.  and  he  covered .  .  . :  or,  •'  and  he  roofed  the  house  with  ...  of 
cedar.'  The  words  rendered  beams  and  planks  are  obscure. 
They  do  not  seem  to  have  been  in  the  original  LXX,  which  reads 
simply,  *  and  he  covered  the  house  with  cedar.' 

10.  stories:  Heb.  ydzia  (sing.).  The  last  clause  reads,  'and 
it  took  hold  of  the  house  by  beams  of  cedar.'  That  is  to  say,  the 
ydeia,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  embodied  precisely  the  structural 
device  which  was  so  carefully  provided  against  in  the  construction 
of  the  side-chambers  !  (See  on  verse  6.)  Further,  the  height  of  it 
is  only  five  cubits  (the  word  each  is  not  in  the  Hebrew).  On  the 
common  view,  this  of  course  could  only  be  the  height  of  a  single 
'  story ' ;  hence,  to  save  that  interpretation,  we  must  either  read 
'  fifteen  cubits,'  or  else  allow  for  very  great  looseness  of  expression. 


I  KINGS  6.  11-15.     TDT  109 

high  :    and  they  rested  on   the   house  with   timber  of 
cedar. 

[D]  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Solomon,  n 
saying,  Concerning  this  house  which  thou  art  in  building,  13 
if   thou    wilt   walk   in   my   statutes,    and    execute    my 
judgements,  and  keep  all  my  commandments  to  walk  in 
them ;  then  will  I  establish  my  word  with  thee,  which  I 
spake  unto  David  thy  father.     And  I  will  dwell  among  13 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  not  forsake  my  people 
Israel. 

So  Solomon  built  the  house,  and  finished  it.     [T]  Andu,  15 

vi.  1 1- 1 4.  Divine  charge  to  Solomon  regarding  the  house  he  was 
building.  These  verses,  which  are  wanting  in  the  LXX,  appear 
to  be  from  the  hand  of  the  compiler  ^  They  are  very  important  as 
revealing  the  religious  idea  of  the  temple,  which  gave  it  so  much 
significance  to  the  minds  of  the  Deuteronomic  writers.  The 
temple  is  Yahweh's  dwelling-place — the  symbol  and  pledge  of  His 
gracious  presence  with  His  people  Israel.  That  presence  is  con- 
ditional upon  obedience  to  the  Divine  law ;  and  it  is  implied  that 
unfaithfulness  to  the  covenant  will  be  followed  by  the  destruction 
of  the  temple. 

12.  my  word  .  .  .  whioli :  2  Sam.  vii.  12  ff. 

14  appears  to  be  a  repetition  of  the  first  half  of  verse  9, 
introduced  to  restore  the  connexion  which  had  been  disturbed  by 
the  insertion  of  11-13. 

vi.  15-22.  The  infernal  arrangements  of  the  house.  This  extremely 
confused  and  difficult  passage  describes  (i)  the  woodwork  with 
which  the  interior  was  lined,  15  ;  (2)  its  division  into  two  com- 
partments, debir  and  hekdl,  16,  17,  20  ;  (3)  the  altar  of  cedar  that 
stood  in  front  of  the  debir,  20,  21  ;  (4)  disconnected  statements 
with  regard  to  the  carving  (18)  and  gilding  (20,  21,  22)  of  the 
various  parts. 

The  E.  V.  smooths  over  many  anomalies  in  the  Hebrew  text, 
which  is  in  fact  utterly  untranslateable  as  it  stands.  In  the  notes 
it  is  only  possible  to  indicate  very  briefly  the  principal  changes 
and  excisions  that  have  to  be  made  ;  and  it  may  be  advisable  to 
begin  at  once  with  a  translation  of  the  amended  text : — 

^  Burney  (p.  68  f.)  adduces  strong  but  perhaps  hardly  decisive 
reasons  for  regarding  them  as  the  work  of  the  Priestly  redactor. 


no  I   KINGS  G.  16-18.     TPT 

he  built  the  walls  of  the  house  within  with  boards 
of  cedar ;  from  the  floor  of  the  house  unto  the  walls  of 
the  cieling,  he  covered  them  on  the  inside  with  wood : 
and  he  covered  the  floor  of  the  house  with  boards  of  fir. 

16  And  he  built  twenty  cubits  on  the  hinder  part  of  the 
house  with  boards  of  cedar  from  the  floor  unto  the  walls  : 
he  even  built  them  for  it  within,  for  an  oracle,  [P]  even 

17  for  the  most  holy  place.     [T]  And  the  house,  that  is, 

18  the  temple  before  the  oracle,  was  forty  cubits  long.     And 

'•  {\^  And  he  built  the  walls  of  the  house  within  with  planks  of 
cedar,  from  the  floor  of  the  house  to  the  beams  of  the  ceiling, 
covering  with  wood  within  ;  and  he  covered  the  floor  of  the  house 
with  planks  of  cypress.  (16)  And  the  twenty  cubits  at  the  furthest 
end  of  the  house  he  built  as  didebir]  (17)  and  the  hekdl  measured 
forty  cubits  before  (20)  the  dcbir.  And  the  debir  was  twenty 
cubits  in  length,  and  twenty  cubits  in  breadth,  and  twenty  cubits 
in  height.     And  he  made  an  altar  of  cedar  (21)  before  the  debir\ 

15.  The  walls  of  the  house  are  lined  with  boards  {lit.  *  ribs ')  of 
cedar.  Instead  of  walls  of  the  cielingf,  read  (with  a  slight 
change,  qoroth  for  qiroth)  '  beams  (or  rafters)  of  the.' 

16.  The  words  with  boards  .  .  .  walls  (marg.  'beams ')  seem 
a  mistaken  recapitulation  of  part  of  verse  15.  When  these  are 
removed  we  see  that  the  following  clause  he  even  .  .  .  within  has 
been  added  merely  to  restore  the  lost  continuity  of  the  sentence, 
and  must  also  disappear. 

oracle:  (Vulg.  oracnhmt)  is  an  incorrect  and  misleading 
equivalent  for  the  Heb.  debir,  which,  means  really  the  'hinder 
part '  of  the  building.  It  is  used  exclusively  of  the  inner  shrine 
of  Solomon's  temple,  the  place  where  Yahweh  dwelt  (cf.  Ps. 
xxviii.  2).  The  later  name  was  *  Holy  of  Holies,'  which  accord- 
ingly is  here  added  at  the  end  of  the  verse  as  an  explanatory 
gloss. 

17.  the  house,  that  is,  the  temple.  The  expression  violates 
the  consistent  usage  of  the  writer,  in  which  the  '  house  '  invariably 
denotes  the  whole  building,  including  both  the  debir  and  the  hekdl 
(temple.  Hence  the  words  the  house,  that  is  must  be  omitted, 
and  for  this  excision  we  have  again  the  authority  of  the  LXX. 
Hekdl  comes  ultimately  from  the  Accadian  E-GAL  (  =  great  house). 

^  The  treatment  of  the  text  follows  in  the  main  that  of  Benzinger 
in  his  commentary.  The  analysis  of  Kittel  reaches  a  similar  result, 
but  appears  in  some  points  less  satisfying.    See  also  Burney,  p.  70  ff. 


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112  I  KINGS  6.  19,  2o.     T 

there  was  cedar  on  the  house  within,  carved  with  knops 
and  open  flowers :   all  was  cedar ;   there  was  no  stone 

19  seen.  And  he  prepared  an  oracle  in  the  midst  of  the 
house  within,  to  set  there  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 

30  Lord.  And  within  the  oracle  was  a  space  of  twenty 
cubits  in  length,  and  twenty  cubits  in  breadth,  and 
twenty  cubits  in  the  height  thereof;  and  he  overlaid  it 
with  pure  gold :   and  he  covered  the  altar  with  cedar. 


In  the  O.  T.  it  is  used  sometimes  of  a  royal  palace  (xxi.  i,  &c.),  but 
generally  of  the  temple  as  the  palace  of  Yahweh ;  and  especially 
(as  here)  of  the  great  hall  (nave)  of  the  temple  as  distinct  from 
the  debir  or  inner  shrine.  The  measurements  are  evidently  not 
pedantically  accurate,  no  allowance  being  made  for  the  thickness 
of  the  partition  betw^een  the  two  chambers.  Probably  the  entire 
length  exceeded  sixty  cubits  by  that  small  amount.  In  the  Hebrew 
the  verse  ends  with  the  word  'before,'  stopping  abruptly  in  the 
middle  of  a  phrase,  of  which  the  continuation  is  found  in  the 
beginning  of  verse  20 ;  verses  18,  19  must  therefore  be  an  inter- 
polation. 

18  is  not  in  the  LXX.  In  describing  the  woodwork  as 
carved,  it  is  no  doubt  true  to  the  facts  of  a  later  time  ;  the 
confusion  arises  from  the  attempt  of  a  scribe  to  find  a  place  for 
the  detail  in  the  account  of  what  Solomon  did. 

knops :  probably  gourd-shaped  bosses.  See  further  on 
verse  29. 

19.  Although  the  verse  is  in  the  LXX,  it  must  also  be  got  rid 
of  as  an  interpolation.  Part  of  it  might  be  retained  if  we  were 
to  read  with  the  LXX,  *  before  the  debir  in  the  midst  of  the  house 
inwards.'  But  a  still  clearer  connexion  is  obtained  by  omitting 
it  entirely.  It  is  a  doublet  to  verse  16,  written  to  mention  the 
purpose  of  the  debir,  viz.  to  receive  the  ark, 

20.  And  within  the  oracle.  To  recover  the  connexion  with 
verse  17  a  slight  alteration  is  necessary  :  '  before  the  debir.  And 
the  debir  was  twenty  cubits,'  &c.  The  shrine  was  thus  a  perfect 
cube  :  there  must  have  been  an  unused  space  about  ten  cubits  high 
between  the  cieling  of  the  debir  and  the  outer  roof. 

and  he  covered  the  altar  with  cedar.  Render  with  LXX, 
'  and  he  made  an  altar  of  cedar  * :  the  continuation  is  contained  in 
verse  21.  The  altar  is  the  shewbread-table  (vii.  48),  The 
transition  from  the  name  '  altar '  to  '  table '  is  shown  by  Ezek.  xli.  22 ; 
cf.  also  Exod.  xxv.  23  ff.  The  preceding  clause,  and  he  overlaid  .  . . 
gold,  is  to  be  deleted  (see  on  verse  22). 


I  KINGS  G.  21-24.     T  113 

So  Solomon  overlaid  the  house  within  with  pure  gold:  21 
and  he  drew  chains  of  gold  across  before  the  oracle ; 
and  he  overlaid  it  with  gold.     And  the  whole  house  he  22 
overlaid  with  gold,  until  all  the  house  was  finished  :  also 
the  whole  altar  that  belonged  to  the  oracle  he  overlaid 
with  gold.     And  in  the  oracle  he  made  two  cherubim  of  23 
olive  wood,  each  ten  cubits  high.     And  five  cubits  was  24 

21.  The  only  genuine  words  here  are  before  the  oracle,  which 
conclude  verse  20.  The  clauses  preceding  are  wanting  in  the 
LXX,  which  here  preserves  the  original  connexion.  The  last 
clause  is  rejected  for  the  same  reason  as  verse  22. 

22.  The  repeated  and  disjointed  statements  about  the  plating 
of  the  house  and  its  several  parts  with  gold  are  suspected,  on 
internal  grounds,  of  being  unhistorical.  They  seem  to  represent 
a  mass  of  v^^ealth  which,  though  not  perhaps  in  itself  incredible, 
could  hardly  fail  to  be  taken  notice  of  in  the  records  of  the 
successive  plunderings  of  the  temple.  (See.  however,  Burney's 
Notes,  p.  73  f.)  They  are  partly  wanting  in  the  LXX  ;  and  since 
in  almost  every  instance  they  interrupt  the  description,  they  may 
probably  be  regarded  one  and  all  as  interpolations.  Hence  the 
whole  of  this  verse  should  be  omitted. 

vi.  23-28.  Description  of  the  Cherubim.  The  cherubim  were 
the  Hebrew  modification  of  the  composite  winged  figures  which 
play  so  large  a  part  in  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  art.  In  the  O.  T. 
they  appear  in  two  characters  :  (i)  as  guardians  of  sacred  places 
(Gen.  iii.  24  ;  Ezek.  xxviii)  ;  and  (2)  as  bearers  of  the  theophany, 
or  sensible  manifestation  of  Yahweh  '  Ezek.  1  ;  Ps.  xviii.  10^. 
Here  both  characters  are  probably  combined  ;  they  are  guardians 
of  the  sacred  ark,  and  at  the  same  time  sj^mbols  of  the  Divine 
presence.  There  is  much  to  be  said  for  the  opinion  that  originally 
the  cherub  was  a  personification  of  the  thunder-cloud,  which  is 
the  symbol  in  nature  of  Yahweh's  presence  (see  Ps.  xviii.  7-15). 
Unfortunately  we  know  little  about  the  form  in  which  they 
were  represented  in  the  temple.  All  we  learn  is  that  they  were 
(as  always)  winged,  that  they  were  each  ten  cubits  high,  and  that 
they  stood  in  the  inner  shrine  (debir),  the  whole  breadth  of  which 
was  just  measured  by  their  outstretched  wings.  They  would  thus 
stand  ten  cubits  apart,  the  intermediate  space  being  the  destined 
resting-place  of  the  ark  (viii.  6,  7). 

23.  each  ten  cnbits  hiirh  :  strictly,  '  its  height  was  ten  cubits.' 
The  sing,  (without  '  each ')  creates  a  difficulty,  which  Stade 
ingeniously  remedies  by  transposing  the  whole  of  verse  26  to 
this  place  :  'two  cherubim  of  oli\e  wood  ;  the  height  of  the  one 

I 


114  I  KINGS  0.  25-30.     T 

the  one  wing  of  the  cherub,  and  five  cubits  the  other 

wing  of  the  cherub  :  from  the  uttermost  part  of  the  one 

wing  unto  the  uttermost   part  of  the  other  were   ten 

35  cubits.     And  the  other  cherub  was  ten  cubits  :  both  the 

2  5  cherubim   were  of  one   measure   and  one   form.     The 

height  of  the  one  cherub  was  ten  cubits,  and  so  was  it 

27  of  the  other  cherub.     And  he  set  the  cherubim  within 

the  inner  house :  and  the  wings  of  the  cherubim  were 

stretched  forth,  so  that  the  wing  of  the  one  touched  the 

one  wall,  and  the  wing  of  the  other  cherub  touched  the 

other  wall ;  and  their  wings  touched  one  another  in  the 

2  8  midst  of  the  house.     And  he  overlaid  the  cherubim  with 

39  gold.     And  he  carved  all  the  walls  of  the  house  round 

about  with  carved  figures  of  cherubim  and  palm  trees  and 

30  open  flowers,  within  and  without.     And  the  floor  of  the 


.  .  .  cubits,    and  similarly  the  second  cherub's  height  was  ten 
cubits.' 

24.  The  w^ings  are  supposed  to  be  outstretched ;  and  the 
measurement  in  each  direction  is  from  a  single  central  point. 

25.  the  other  cherub  was  ten  cubits :  i.  e.  not  in  height,  but 
in  spread  of  wings. 

26.  See  on  verse  23. 

27.  within:  *  in  the  midst  of,'  probably  midway  between  the 
east  and  west  walls.  That  the  cherubim  faced  towards  the  liekill 
need  not  be  said. 

and  the  wings  .  .  .  stretched  forth.  Read  with  LXX,  '  and 
they  spread  out  their  wings.'  The  rest  of  the  description  follows 
from  what  has  been  already  said. 

28.  The  gold-plating  of  the  cherubim  is  in  itself  quite  credible, 
although  the  statement  lies  under  the  suspicion  adhering  to 
similar  notices  in  the  chapter  (see  on  verse  22)  ;  and  the  two 
following  verses  are  certainly  interpolated. 

29.  The  verse  hardly  agrees  with  verse  18;  on  the  other  hand 
it  has  a  close  resemblance  to  Ezek.  xli.  18.  Possibly  the 
ornamentation  of  the  second  temple  may  have  been  transferred 
to  that  of  Solomon. 

open  flowers:  or,  'garlands  of  flowers';  so  verse  i8, 
whence  the  phrase  (which  is  wanting  here  in  the  LXX)  may 
have  been  taken. 


I  KINGS  6.  31-34.     T  115 

house  he  overlaid  with  gold,  within  and  without.     And  31 
for  the  entering  of  the  oracle  he  made  doors  of  olive 
wood:  the  lintel  and  door  posts  were  a  fifth  part  of  the 
wall.     So  he  made  two  doors  of  olive  wood ;   and  he  3  2 
carved  upon  them  carvings  of  cherubim  and  palm  trees 
and  open  flowers,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold ;  and  he 
spread  the  gold  upon  the  cherubim,  and  upon  the  palm 
trees.     So  also  made  he  for  the  entering  of  the  temple  33 
door  posts  of  olive  wood,  out  of  a  fourth  part  of  the  ivall\ 
and  two  doors  of  fir  wood ;  the  two  leaves  of  the  one  34 
door  were  folding,  and  the  two  leaves  of  the  other  door 

within  and  without :  perhaps,  '  both  of  the  inner  and  of  the 
outer  house '  (Klostermann). 

vi.  31-35.  The  Doors.  The  doors  of  the  dcbir  were  of  olive 
wood  ;  at  the  outer  entrance  only  the  posts  were  of  olive,  the 
folding-doors  themselves  of  cypress.  The  shape  of  the  doors 
is  indicated,  but  not  their  size.  In  Ezekiel's  temple  the  outer 
door  was  ten  cubits  wide  (Ezek.  xli.  2). 

31.  the  lintel  and  door  posts  were  a  fifth  part :  an  obscure 
expression.    It  might  mean  that  the  cross-section  of 

the  posts  was  pentagonal  (see  on  verse  33,  vii,  5). 
The  most  probable  sense,  however,  is  :  *  the  lintel 
and  the  door  posts  formed  a  pentagon  ; '  meaning 
that  the  lintel,  instead  of  being  a  single  horizontal 
beam,  was  formed  of  two  pieces,  meeting  each  other 
at  an  angle.  The  peculiar  shape  may  have  been 
suggested  (as  Thenius  thinks)  by  the  tent,  in  which 
the  ark  had  previously  been  kept. 

32.  So  he  made  .  .  .  them :    rather,    '  And  on 
the  two  doors  he  carved.'     On  the  carving,  see  verses  18,  29 ; 
on  the  gold-plating,  see  verse  22. 

33.  The  entrance  from  the  porch  to  the  hekdl  is  fitted  with 
posts  of  olive  wood,  which  are  described  as  '  four-cornered  posts ' 
(read  so  with  Vulgate,  instead  of  out  of  a  fourth  part).  That 
might  be  naturally  understood  of  the  'cross-section '  of  the  posts  ; 
but  if  the  explanation  given  of  verse  31  be  correct,  it  is  more 
likely  to  mean  that  the  side  posts  with  the  lintel  and  threshold 
formed  in  this  case  a  rectangle. 

34.  There  were  two  doors  of  cypress  wood,  each  divided 
(vertically)  into  two  leaves. 

the  two  lieaves  .  .  . :  or,  *  the  one  door  was  (composed  of) 
two  folding  leaives,  and,'  &c. 


ii6  I    KINGS  G.  35—7.  i.     T 

35  were  folding.  And  he  carved  thereon  cherubim  and 
pahii  trees  and  open  flowers  :  and  he  overlaid  them  with 

36  gold  fitted  upon  the  graven  work.  And  he  built  the 
inner  court  with  three  rows  of  hewn  stone,  and  a  row  of 

37  cedar  beams.     In  the  fourth  year  was  the  foundation  of 

38  the  house  of  the  Lord  laid,  in  the  month  Ziv.  And  in 
the  eleventh  year,  in  the  month  Bui,  which  is  the  eighth 
month,  was  the  house  finished  throughout  all  the  parts 
thereof,  and  according  to  all  the  fashion  of  it.  So  was 
he  seven  years  in  building  it. 

7      And  Solomon  was  building  his  own  house  thirteen 

35.  Cf.  verse  32. 

36.  The  Inner  Court.  The  temple  stood  within  an  enclosure  by 
itself  (the  '  upper  court '  of  Jer.  xxxvi.  lo),  the  wall  of  which  is  here 
described.    See  further,  Introductory  Note  to  ch.  vii,  and  on  v  ii.  12. 

and  a  row  of  cedar  beams.  This  is  the  only  difficult  point  in 
the  description.  Were  the  beams  laid  flat  on  the  top  of  the 
stone,  or  did  they  stand  upright  and  form  a  palisade  ?  Or  is  it 
meant  that  every  fourth  course  in  the  wall  was  a  string-course  of 
cedar  beams  ?     It  is  impossible  to  say. 

37t  38.  Dates  of  the  Commencenient  and  Completion  of  the  Work. 
The  building  of  the  temple  lasted  over  seven  years,  having  been 
begun  in  the  second  month  (see  verse  i)  of  the  fourth  year,  and 
finished  in  the  eighth  month  of  the  eleventh  year,  of  the  reign  of 
Solomon.     On  the  original  position  of  the  verses,  see  on  verse  i. 

The  month-names  Ziv  and  BtQ  belong  to  the  old  Hebrew 
Calendar,  which  was  in  use  down  to  the  Exile.  Only  four  of 
these  names  have  been  preserved  in  the  O.  T. — Abib  (first  month), 
Ziv  (second),  Ethanim  (seventh),  and  Bui  (eighth).  The  num- 
bcting  of  the  months,  on  the  other  hand,  follows  the  Babylonian 
Calendar,  in  which  the  year  began  with  the  vernal  equinox, 
instead  of  in  the  autumn,  according  to  the  older  system.  Ziv  is 
the  <  flower  month,'  and  corresponds  to  our  April  or  May ;  Bnl 
(,Oct.-Nov.)  probably  means  the  'rainy  month.'  The  explanatory 
clause,  which  is  the  eighth  month,  betrays  its  character  as 
a  gloss,  not  only  by  the  numeral,  but  also  by  a  different  word  for 
month  {hodesh)  from  that  used  in  the  other  two  places  (yerah). 

vii.  I -1 2.     The  Palace  Buildings. 
In   the   LXX   this  section  stands  at  the  end  of  the  chapter, 
following  the  description  of  the  temple  furniture  in  verses  13-51 


I    KINGS  7.  2.     T  117 

years,  and  he  finished  all  his  house.     For  he  built  the  2 
house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon ;  the  length  thereof  was 

of  the  Hebrew.  This  seems  at  first  sight  the  natural  arrangement, 
inasmuch  as  it  disposes  of  everything  pertaining  to  the  temple 
before  proceeding  to  speak  of  other  buildings.  But  Wellhausen 
has  pointed  out  that  the  Hebrew  order  proceeds  on  a  principle 
which  was  apt  to  be  overlooked  by  later  editors,  but  which  when 
observed  at  once  commends  itself  as  original.  For  the  description 
cf  the  temple  in  ch.  vi  ends  with  the  '  inner  court '  :  that  implies  an 
'  outer  court,'  to  which  we  expect  the  writer  to  pass  on.  Now 
the  '  great  court '  is  first  mentioned  in  verse  9  (more  fully  in  verse 
12)  ;  and  the  obvious  inference  is  that  it  included  all  the  buildings 
here  enumerated,  as  well  as  the  temple.  We  shall  see  presently 
(on  verse  7)  that  there  were  in  fact  two  inner  courts,  one  for  the 
temple  and  another  for  the  palace.  Both  these,  therefore,  stood 
within  the  same  '  great  court ' ;  and  the  temple  had  but  one  court 
peculiar  to  itself.  That  this  was  actually  the  case  is  confirmed  in 
part  by  Ezek.  xliii.  7,  8,  where  we  read  that  'only  a  wall '  separ- 
ated the  dwelling-place  of  Yahweh  from  that  of  the  kings  of 
Judah.  With  regard  to  the  situation  and  relative  disposition  of 
the  various  buildings,  it  is  enough  to  say  here  that  they  appear  to 
be  taken  in  the  order  in  which  they  would  be  passed  by  one 
entering  the  great  court  from  the  south  and  proceeding  northwards 
towards  the  temple.     See  further,  Appendix,  Note  i. 

There  are  in  all  five  buildings  to  be  considered,  although  only 
the  first  is  described  in  anything  like  detail  :  (i)  the  House  of  the 
Forest  of  Lebanon,  2-5  ;  (2)  the  Hall  of  Pillars,  6 ;  (3)  the 
Hall  of  Justice,  7  ;  (4)  the  Royal  Residence,  8  ;  (5)  the 
House  of  Pharaoh's  Daughter,  8.  Then  follow  (6)  general 
statements  as  to  the  stonework,  9-1 1  ;  and  (7)  an  account 
of  the  wall  of  the  great  court,  12. 

1.  his  own  house:  as  *  house'  in  ch.  vi  includes  both  parts  c  f  the 
temple,  so  here  it  denotes  the  whole  complex  of  palace  buildings. 

The  thirteen  years  are  reckoned,  according  to  ix.  10,  from  the 
completion  of  the  temple. 

The  last  clause,  and  he  finished,  is  transposed  in  the  LXX  to 
the  end  of  the  chapter  (after  verse  12). 

vii.  2-5.  The  House  of  the  Forest  of  Lebattotu  The  peculiar 
name  is  not  of  course  to  be  taken  literally,  as  if  a  summer  residence 
in  Mount  Lebanon  were  meant.  It  is  a  poetic  designation  suggested 
by  the  forest-like  appearance  of  the  great  hall,  with  its  numerous 
pillars  of  cedar  from  Lebanon.  It  was  by  far  the  largest  of  all 
the  buildings,  measuring  100  cubits  long,  50  broad,  and  30  high. 
It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  form  a  clear  idea  of  the  structure 


ii8  I    KINGS  7.  3.     T 

an  hundred  cubits,  and  the  breadth  thereof  fifty  cubits, 

and  the  height  thereof  thirty  cubits,  upon  four  rows  of 

3  cedar  pillars,  with  cedar  beams  upon  the  pillars.     And 

it  was  covered  with  cedar  above  over  the  forty  and  five 

from  the  meagre  details  given.  As  the  principal  feature  we  must 
imagine  a  spacious  hall,  covering  no  doubt  the  entire  area,  whose 
roof  was  supported  by  forty-five  pillars  in  three  rows  of  fifteen  each. 
It  is  common!}'  supposed  that  over  this  there  was  an  upper  story  ; 
but  that  does  not  seem  necessarily  implied  by  verses  a,  3.  If 
there  was  no  upper  stor}',  the  mention  of  lights  and  doors  proves 
that  the  hall  was  walled  in  on  all  sides — in  any  case  the  most 
probable  view — so  that  the  pillars  in  each  row  would  be  about 
10  feet,  the  rows  themselves  about  20  feet,  apart.  Some  think  that 
one  side  was  open,  the  front  being  occupied  by  the  first  row  of 
pillars  ;  and  that  is  quite  possible,  if  we  suppose  the  lights,  &c.,  to 
have  been  those  of  the  upper  chambers.  As  regards  the  purpose 
of  the  building,  all  we  certainly  know  is  that  some  part  of  it  was 
used  as  an  armoury  for  the  weapons  of  the  troops  (x.  i7\  Josephus 
(Ant.  VIII.  iss'^,  says  the  great  hall  was  intended  to  hold  the 
concourse  of  people  that  came  together  for  the  courts  of  justice  ; 
and  for  some  such  public  gatherings  the  place  must  surely  have 
been  constructed. 

2.  Por  he  bnilt :  '  And  he  built.'     The  height  (30  cubits)  is  not 
mentioned  by  the  LXX. 

npon  four  rows.  The  LXX  reads  '  three  rows ' ;  and  this  is 
seen  from  verse  3  to  be  correct.  If  the  preposition  upon  can  be 
pressed — the  house  built  •  upon  '  the  pillars — then  certainly  there 
was  an  upper  story  :  in  fact,  the  house  is  the  upper  story.  But  is 
such  an  expression  natural  ]  And  can  we  lay  such  stress  on  a 
single  particle,  which  moreover  is  wanting  in  Swete's  LXX  ? 

with  cedajr  beams :  LXX,  '  with  shoulders  of  cedar  '  (kethe- 
plwth  for  kemthotlt).  This  is  perhaps  to  be  preferred 
as  the  more  technical  and  difficult  reading.  By 
'  shoulders '  we  are  probably  to  understand  struts, 
abutting  on  the  pillars,  and  supporting  the  roof  with 
triangular  brackets  (s  in  the  fig.;.  These  would  be 
almost  a  structural  necessity,and  would  besides  enhance 
the  forest-like  appearance  of  the  interior. 

3.  it  was  covered  :  or,  '  lined.' 

over  the  forty  and  five  .  .  .  row.  Render,  '  over  the  planks ' 
(or,  side-chambers?)  '  that  were  upon  the  pillars  [and  the  pillars 
were]  forty-five,  fifteen  in  each  row.'  The  words  in  square 
brackets  might  easily  have  been  dropped  in  a  Hebrew  text  ;so 
Benzinger).  Now,  here  ever^'thing  depends  on  whether  the  word 
zelaofh  is  to  be  rendered  'planks'  or  'side-chambers.'     It  is  used 


I    KINGS  7.  4-7.    T  119 

beams,  that  were  upon  the  pillars ;    fifteen  in  a  row. 
And  there  were  prospects  in  three  rows,  and  light  was  4 
over  against  light  in  three  ranks.     And  all  the  doors  and  5 
posts  were  square  in  prospect :  and  light  was  over  against 
light  in  three  ranks.     And  he  made  the  porch  of  pillars  ;  6 
the  length  thereof  was  fifty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  thereof 
thirty   cubits ;   and  a  porch   before   them ;   and  pillars 
and  thick  beams  before  them.     And  he  made  the  porch  7 
of  the  throne  where  he  might  judge,  even  the  porch  of 
judgement :  and  it  was  covered  with  cedar  from  floor  to 

in  both  senses  in  ch.  vi  (the  former  in  verses  15,  16  ;  the  latter  in 
verses  5,  6,  8).  But  while  a  lateral  chamber  might  fitly  be  desig- 
nated a  zela'  (rib),  it  is  difficult  to  think  that  the  term  is  appropriate 
for  a  chamber  in  general,  or  for  an  tipper  chamber.  We  may 
therefore  keep  to  the  sense  *  planks.' 

4.  The  sense  is  hopelessly  obscure.  The  word  for  light  occurs 
nowhere  else  (supposed  to  be  from  a  verb  meaning  *  to  gaze  * — 
places  one  gazes  through).  That  for  prospects  occurs  in  vi.  4 
('lattice-work,'  R.  V.)  ;  and  might  be  the  plural  of  that  similarly 
rendered  in  vii.  5.  If  we  seek  a  sense  suitable  in  all  three 
passages,  the  best  is  perhaps  '  framework.*  Hence,  '  there  were 
frames  in  three  rows,  and  light  was  over  against  light  three  times/ 
But  no  one  can  pretend  to  know  what  that  means. 

5*.  For  posts  read,  with  LXX,  'lights.'  <  And  all  the  doors 
and  lights  were  square  in  framework*  (see  on  verse  4).  Unfortu- 
nately, nothing  is  said  of  the  position  of  the  doors. 

5^  repeats  4^  in  the  Hebrew  :  the  LXX  has  '  doors '  in  place  of 
'  lights.' 

6.  The  Hall  of  Pillars,  50  cubits  in  length,  and  30  in  breadth. 
The  purpose  of  this  building  can  only  be  guessed  from  its  position 
in  relation  to  the  Throne  Hall,  next  to  be  described.  It  may  have 
been  a  waiting- chamber  for  those  engaged  in  lawsuits  to  be  brought 
before  the  king.  Attached  to  this  there  seems  to  have  been  an 
ante- chamber  or  porch,  also  furnished  with  pillars,  and  some 
unknown  structure  called  an 'rtZ»  (thick  beams:  marg.  'threshold'). 
The  word  is  found  again  only  in  Ezek.  xli.  25,  where  it  is  variously 
explained  as  a  'projecting  roof,'  a  'landing,'  &c.  (R.  Y.  'thick 
beams,'  as  here). 

7.  The  Throtte  Hall,  or  Hall  of  Justice.  The  purpose  is  distinctly 
stated  :  where  he  might  judge.  The  dimensions  are  not  given  : 
all  we  are  told  is  that  it  was  lined  with  cedar  from,  floor  to  floor 
(perhaps  we  should  read,  as  in  vi.  15,  '  from  floor  to  rafters  '). 


I20  I    KINGS  7.  8-II.     T 

8  floor.  And  his  house  where  he  might  dwell,  the  other 
court  within  the  porch,  was  of  the  like  work.  He  made 
also  an  house  for  Pharaoh's  daughter,  (whom  Solomon 

9  had  taken  to  wife,)  like  unto  this  porch.  All  these  were 
of  costly  stones,  even  of  hewn  stone,  according  to  mea- 
sure, sawed  with  saws,  within  and  without,  even  from  the 
foundation  unto  the  coping,  and  so  on  the  outside  unto 

10  the  great  court.    And  the  foundation  was  of  costly  stones, 
even  great  stones,  stones  of  ten  cubits,  and  stones  of 

11  eight  cubits.     And  above  were  costly  stones,  even  hewn 

8.  The  Royal  Palace  and  the  House  of  Pharaoh's  Daughter. 
The  first  part  of  the  verse  should  read:   'And  his  house  in  which 

he  dwelt  (in)  the  other  court,  inwards  from  (i.  e.  nearer  the  temple 
than)  the  Hall  (of  Justice),  was  of  like  construction  (with  the 
latter).'  We  learn  (t)  that  of  all  the  buildings  the  palace  was 
nearest  to  the  temple  court,  and  (2)  that  it  stood  within  a  court  of 
its  own,  which  in  2  Kings  xx.  4  is  appropriately  termed  'the 
middle  court.'  From  Ezek.  xliii.  8  we  may  infer  that  one  side  of 
this  enclosure  was  formed  by  the  south  wall  of  the  temple  court. 
It  is  natural  to  suppose  further  that  the  house  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter  stood  within  this  same  '  other  court.' 

like  unto  this  porch  (•  Hall') :  i.  e.,  again,  the  Hall  of  Justice, 
vii.  9-1  r.     Description  of  the  stonework. 

9.  All  these:  the  buildings  just  enumerated. 

even  of  .  .  .  measure :  or  perhaps,  '  in  accordance  with  the 
measurements  of  hewn  stone  {gdsith)'';  i.  e.  with  the  exact  mea- 
surements applicable  to  hewn  stone. 

sawed  with  saws  :  the  ordinary  method  of  squaring  and 
dressing  the  soft  limestone  of  Palestine  (verse  15''. 

within  and  without :  dressed  on  all  sides,  the  outer  surface 
not  being  left  in  the  rough,  as  was  often  done  by  the  ancient 
Phoenician  stone-masons  (see  on  verse  17). 

The  last  clause,  and  so  .  .  .  g-reat  court,  gives  no  clear  sense. 
Burney  suggests  a  plausible  emendation  of  the  text,  which  would 
read  :  '  and  from  the  court  of  the  house  of  Yahweh  unto  the  great 
court.' 

10.  By  the  foundations  are  meant  the  lowest  course  of  the 
stonework.  At  the  base  of  the  retaining  walls  of  the  present 
Haram  area  are  found  stones  of  considerably  larger  dimensions 
than  those  here  recorded. 

11.  The  upper  courses  were  built  with  smaller  stones  of  the 
same  character  (see  on  verse  9)  and  cedar. 


I    KINGS  7.  12,  13.     T  I2T 

stone,  according  to  measure,  and  cedar  wood.     And  the  12 
great  court  round  about  had  three  rows  of  hewn  stone, 
and  a  row  of  cedar  beams ;  like  as  the  inner  court  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  porch  of  the  house. 

And  king  Solomon  sent  and  fetched  Hiram  out  of  13 

12.  The  Courts.  The  whole  complex  of  buildings,  including  the 
temple,  was  surrounded  by  an  outer  wall,  forming  the  enclosure 
called  the  *  great  court.'  This  outer  wall  was  of  the  same  structure 
as  that  of  the  '  inner  court '  (see  on  vi.  36).  The  second  half  of  the 
verse  is  difficult  both  in  grammar  and  in  sense  ;  and  is  possiblj' 
a  doublet  of  vi.  36,  after  which  it  occurs  in  the  LXX.  With  the 
help  of  the  LXX,  however,  Burney  amends  the  text  so  as  to  read 
•  round  about  the  court  of  the  House  of  Yahweh,  and  the  court  of 
the  porch  of  the  palace.'  In  this  form  it  would  stand  quite 
appropriately  in  its  present  position. 

On  the  site  of  Solomon's  buildings  see  Appendix,  Note  i. 
vii.  13-51.    The  Temple  Implements. 

Solomon  sends  to  Tyre  for  a  famous  brass-worker  named  Hiram 
(or  Huram-abi,  see  on  verse  13),  the  son  of  a  Tyrian  father  and 
an  Israelitish  mother.  This  man  comes  and  sets  up  his  foundr3'  at 
a  spot  in  the  Jordan  valley,  where  he  found  suitable  soil  for  his 
gigantic  moulds  (verse  46)  ;  and  there  he  manufactured  the 
following  articles  :  (i)  the  two  great  pillars,  Jachin  and  Boaz, 
with  their  ornamental  chapiters,  15-22 ;  (2)  the  brazen  sea,  with 
the  twelve  oxen  on  which  it  rested,  23-26 ;  (3)  ten  portable 
lavers  on  wheeled  carriages,  27-39  '■>  (4)  various  minor  utensils, 
40,  We  have  next  (5)  an  inventory  of  these  productions  of  Phoeni- 
cian workmanship,  41-47  ;  (6)  an  enumeration  of  the  golden 
vessels  and  implements  of  the  temple,  48-50  ;  and  (7)  a  short 
notice  of  the  depositing  of  the  utensils,  along  with  the  treasures 
bequeathed  by  David^  in  the  temple,  51. 

There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  passage  belonged  to  the 
same  ancient  source  as  the  account  of  the  buildings  in  vi.  2—  vii.  la, 
to  which,  however,  verses  47-50  may  be  an  addition  by  a  later 
hand.  Some  touches  of  style  are  common  to  the  two  pieces  ;  and 
the  peculiar  arrangement  is  amply  explained  by  the  consideration 
mentioned  in  the  Introductory  Note  to  ch.  vii.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  abrupt  mention  of  the  summons  to  Huram-abi,  as  if  it  had 
been  an  afterthought,  seems  to  show  that  this  section  was  un- 
known to  the  writer  of  ch,  v ;  otherwise  the  Tyrian  workman 
would  probably  have  been  referred  to  in  the  preliminary  negotia- 
tions with  Hiram.  This  difficulty  seems  to  have  been  felt  by  the 
chronicler,  who  accordingly  works  the  mission  of  Huram-abi  into 
his  account  of  the  correspondence  (2  Chron.  ii.  7,  13,  14). 


122  I    KINGS  7.  14-16.     T 

T4  Tyre.  He  was  the  son  of  a  widow  woman  of  the  tribe  of 
Naphtali,  and  his  father  was  a  man  of  Tyre,  a  worker  in 
brass ;  and  he  was  filled  witli  wisdom  and  understanding 
and  cunning,  to  work  all  works  in  brass.     And  he  came 

15  to  king  Solomon,  and  wrought  all  his  work.  For  he 
fashioned  the  two  pillars  of  brass,  of  eighteen  cubits  high 
apiece  :   and  a  line  of  twelve  cubits  compassed  either 

16  of  them  about.     And  he  made  two  chapiters  of  molten 

vii.  13,  14.     The  Artist. 

13.  Hiram:  from  a  Chron.  ii.  13,  iv.  16  it  has  been  inferred 
that  his  real  name  was  Huram-abi  (=  '  Huram  is  my  father'), 
which  was  first  shortened  to  Huram,  and  then  changed  to  Hiram 
through  a  confusion  with  the  name  of  the  king.  This  is  better 
than  to  suppose  with  Barnes  {Couib.  Bible,  Chronicles,  p.  148) 
that  in  these  places  Hiram  the  king  calls  his  subject  *  Huram  my 
father,'  as  a  title  of  honour. 

14.  According  to  2  Chron.  ii.  14,  Huram-abi's  mother  was  of 
the  tribe  of  Dan,  the  tribe  to  which  the  similarly  gifted  Oholiab 
belonged  (Exod.  xxxi.  6).  His  occupation  was,  as  usual,  heredi- 
tary ;  and  perhaps  his  skill  also,  his  father  before  him  having  been 
a  noted  worker  in  brass. 

vii.  15-22.  The  great  Twin-pillars,  and  their  Chapiters.  The 
pillars  are  eighteen  cubits  high,  and  twelve  in  circumference 
(though  LXX  has  fourteen).  The  thirty-five  cubits  of  2  Chron. 
iii.  15  must  be  an  error  of  some  scribe  who  added  length  and 
circumference  together  and  included  the  height  of  the  chapiters. 
On  the  position  of  these  monuments,  and  their  symbolic  signifi- 
cance, see  on  verse  21.  The  textual  deficiencies  in  the  opening 
verses  have  to  be  remedied  by  the  help  of  two  parallel  passages, 
a  Chron.  iii.  15-17,  and  especially  Jer,  lif.  21-23  (=  a  Kings 
XXV.  17). 

15.  Por  he  fashioned:  better,  as  LXX,  '  And  he  cast.' 

of  eighteen  cubits,  &c.  The  marginal  rendering,  which 
alone  is  correct,  reveals  here  a  lacuna  in  the  text  ;  for  to  say 
that  o)ie  pillar  was  eighteen  cubits  long  and  the  other  twelve 
cubits  in  circumference  would  be  an  odd  way  of  expressing  the 
fact  that  they  were  alike.  The  defect  can  be  supplied  from  the 
LXX,  which  agrees  with  Jer.  Iii.  21.  Read  accordingly  :  '  eighteen 
cubits  was  the  height  of  one  pillar,  and  a  line  of  twelve  cubits 
compassed  it  about,  and  the  thickness  of  the  pillar  was  four  finger- 
breadths.  It  was  hollow  ;  and  so  the  second  pillar.'  The  thick- 
ness of  the  metal  would  be  about  2}  inches. 


I    KINGS  7.  17,18.     T  T23 

brass,  to  set  upon  the  tops  of  the  pillars :  the  height  of 
the  one  chapiter  was  five  cubits,  and  the  height  of  the 
other  chapiter  was  five  cubits.  There  were  nets  of  17 
checker  work,  and  wreaths  of  chain  work,  for  the  chapiters 
which  were  upon  the  top  of  the  pillars ;  seven  for  the 
one  chapiter,  and  seven  for  the  other  chapiter.  So  he  iS 
made  the  pillars ;  and  there  were  two  rows  round  about 
upon  the  one  network,  to  cover  the  chapiters  that  were 
upon  the  top  of  the  pillars  :  and  so  did  he  for  the  other 

16.  The  pillars  are  surmounted  by  chapiters,  each  five  cubits 
high  (the  diameter  is  nowhere  indicated).  In  the  description 
which  follows,  three  things  are  to  be  distinguished :  (i)  the 
chapiter  itself;  (2)  a  network  which  covered  it  ;  and  (3)  festoons 
of  pomegranates  attached  somehow  to  the  network  (cf.  verses 
41,  42).  It  is  extremely  difficult  to  form  any  conception  of  the 
shape  and  general  appearance  of  these  ornaments.  From  verse 
41  we  learn  that  the  '  chapiters '  themselves  were  globular  in  form  ; 
but  this,  of  course,  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  they  were 
strictly  spherical.  The  '  network  '  we  may  suppose  to  have  been 
closely  fitted  to  the  surface  of  the  spheroids.  Further,  we  gather 
from  verse  42  that  there  were  for  each  chapiter  two  chains  of 
pomegranates,  on  each  of  which  100  apples  were  strung :  these 
we  imagine  to  have  hung  loosely  from  or  over  the  network  (see 
below  on  verse  18).  If  the  reader  will  think  of  two  enormous  pine- 
apples, with  the  leaves  removed,  he  will  perhaps  have  some  notion 
of  the  form  and  reticulated  appearance  of  these  strange  objects. 

IT.  The  verse  reads  in  the  LXX :  'And  he  made  two  nets  to 
cover  the  chapiters  of  the  pillars,  even  a  net  for  the  one  chapiter 
and  a  net  for  the  other  chapiter.'  This  text  is  very  nearly  correct ; 
only,  by  taking  from  verse  18  a  clause  which  is  out  of  place  there, 
we  may  read  instead  of  '  chapiters  of  the  pillars,'  '  chapiters 
which  were  on  the  top  of  the  pillars,'  as  in  the  Hebrew  of  this 
verse.  The  phrases  of  checker  work  and  wreaths  of  chain 
work  are  merely  explanatory  glosses  to  the  rare  word  for  nets. 
The  diflference  between  '  nets  '  and  seven  involves  the  change  of 
only  a  single  consonant  in  the  Hebrew. 

18.  So  he  made  the  pillars  is  evidently  wrong.  The  words 
*  pillars  '  and  '  pomegranates  '  appear  to  have  exchanged  places  in 
the  verse  (see  marg.)  ;  hence  the  original  opening  was  :  'And  he 
made  the  pomegranates.'  The  clause  to  cover  .  .  .  pillars  is 
a  misplaced  fragment  of  verse  17  (see  on  the  verse  above),  and 
must  therefore  be  omitted  here.     With  these  alterations  the  verse 


124  I    KINGS  7.  i9-2f.     T 

T9  chapiter.  And  the  chapiters  that  were  upon  the  top  of 
the  pillars  in  the  porch  were  of  lily  work,  four  cubits. 

ao  And  there  were  chapiters  above  also  upon  the  two  pillars, 
close  by  the  belly  which  was  beside  the  network :  and 
the  pomegranates  were  two  hundred,  in  rows  round  about 

21  upon  the  other  chapiter.  And  he  set  up  the  pillars  at 
the  porch  of  the  temple :  and  he  set  up  the  right  pillar, 

yields  a  fairly  good  sense  ;  but  a  still  better  is  obtained  by  taking 
in  a  slightly  modified  form  of  20  *>  (which  is  wanting  in  the  LXX). 
It  then  reads  thus  :  '  And  he  made  the  pomegranates,  and  that  in 
two  rows  over  the  one  network  ;  and  the  pomegranates  were  two 
hundred,  in  rows  round  about  the  one  chapiter  :  and  so  he  made  for 
the  other  chapiter.'  There  were,  then,  100  pomegranates  in  each 
row.  That  they  were  not  strung  tightly  round  the  chapiter 
seems  to  follow  from  the  interesting  notice  in  Jer.  lii.  23,  which 
apparently  means  that  of  the  100  pomegranates,  ninety-six  '  hung 
free.'  That  would  imply  that  they  were  arranged  in  festoons, 
looped  up  at  four  points,  at  each  of  which  one  pomegranate  was 
fixed. 

19,  20,  and  22  are  hardly  intelligible,  and  are  probably  nothing 
but  a  congested  mass  of  marginal  glosses.  Verses  ig  and  22  * 
appear  to  be  variants,  and  the  only  thing  that  causes  hesitation  in 
rejecting  both  is  the  statement  about  the  lily  work,  which  is  too 
distinctive  to  be  lightly  disregarded.  That  the  chapiters  them- 
selves were  lily-shaped  (verse  19)  is  indeed  irreconcileable  with 
verse  41.  Taking  22*^  as  the  original  form  of  the  doublet  (^LXX 
seems  to  have  done  so),  we  might  possibly  understand  it  to  mean 
that  the  rounded  ends  of  the  chapiters  rested  in  borders  of  lily  work 
upon  the  top  of  the  pillars.  Of  the  words  in  the  porch  .  .  .  fonr 
cubits  (which  stand  together  in  the  Hebrew,  verse  19)  nothing 
whatever  can  be  made. 

Verse  20%  so  far  as  it  is  intelligible,  is  wholly  superfluous  at 
this  point  ;  the  words  close  by  .  .  .  network  represent  a  corrupt 
and  untranslateable  text ;  while  20  ^  has  already  been  incorporated 
in  verse  21.     The  description  was  evidently  meant  to  close  with 

21,  where  the  position  and  the  names  of  the  two  pillars  are 
indicated.  They  were  set  up  at  the  porch  of  the  temple,  no 
doubt  one  on  each  side  of  the  entrance. 

rigrht  and  left  mean,  in  accordance  with  usage,  '  south  '  and 
'  north  '  respectively.  An  important  question  is  whether  they  stood 
in  the  doorway,  supporting  the  lintel  of  the  porch,  or  quite  clear 
of  the  building,  some  distance  in  front.  A  perfectly  definite  state- 
ment on  this  point  is  not  found  in  the  O.  T.  ;   though  2  Chron. 


I    KINGS  7.  22.     T  125 

and  called  the  name  thereof  Jachin :  and  he  set  up  the 
left  pillar,  and  called  the  name  thereof  Boaz.     And  upon  22 

iii.  17  is  perhaps  in  favour  of  the  second  alternative.  But  the 
mere  absence  of  any  hint  that  they  formed  part  of  the  structure 
is  itscK  significant.  What  weighs  most  strongly  in  favour  of  the 
other  view  is  the  fact  that  detached  frontal  pillars  were  a  common 
feature  of  ancient  sanctuaries  in  Western  Asia  and  also  in  Baby- 
lonia. Herodotus  (ii.  44.)  mentions  two  such  pillars  in  the  temple 
of  Melkarth  at  Tyre ;  and  others  are  known  to  have  existed  at 
Paphos,  Hierapolis,  and  elsewhere.  Representations  of  them 
are  found  on  ancient  coins,  &c.  ;  and  on  a  fragment  of  a  glass  dish 
(of  third  or  fourth  century),  discovered  in  Rome  in  1882,  there  is 
a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  with  the  two  pillars 
standing  quite  apart  from  the  building  (Benzinger,  Archdologie, 
p.  251).  See  W.  R.  Smith,  Rel.  of  Sent.'- ^  p.  208,  488  ;  Chipiez  et 
Perrot,  Hist,  de  PArf,  iii.  p.  119  ff.  ;  Sayce,  Early  Religions  of  Egypt 
and  Babylonia,  p.  454,  459  f.  The  probability,  therefore,  is  that  the 
pillars  stood  isolated  in  the  court,  and  near  the  entrance  of  the 
porch.     The  names  Jachin  and  Boaz  are  to  us  unintelligible. 

Jachin  (' He  shall  establish,'  marg.,  or  '  Stablisher')  occurs 
as  a  Divine  name  on  a  Phoenician  inscription  {CIS,  i.  10  ;  see 
Winckler,  KA  T^,  p.  224)  ;  and  it  has  been  pointed  out  that  it  would 
be  the  equivalent  in  Phoenician  of  the  Hebrew  *  Yahweh.' 

Boaz  is  still  moils  enigmatical ;  the  marginal  interpretation, 
*In  it  is  strength,'  is  very  precarious.     See  further  below. 

What,  now,  ia  the  significance  of  these  objects  ?  If,  as  we  have 
just  argued,  the^'  served  no  architectural  purpose,  we  are  almost 
compelled  to  recognize  in  them  some  symbolical  or  religious 
meaning.  Perhaps  the  most  likely  view  is  that  they  were  artifi- 
cial imitations— translations  into  metal— of  the  sacred  stones  or 
obelisks  (niazzebdh),  which  appear  to  have  been  an  indispensable 
part  of  the  equipment  of  an  ancient  Semitic  sanctuary.  Originally 
these  stones  were  regarded  as  the  abode  of  the  divinity  ;  and  long 
after  that  primitive  stage  of  religion  had  been  outgrown,  they 
retained  their  place  as  symbols  of  his  presence.  That  the  pillars 
might  have  this  significance  is  shown  by  the  statement  of  Hero- 
dotus (ii.  44)  that  at  Tyre  the  god  Melkarth  was  worshipped  in 
the  form  of  two  such  pillars.  Still  more  instructive  would  be  the 
fact  that,  according  to  Sayce,  the  twin  pillars  of  Babylonian 
temples  represented  two  gods ;  one  of  whom  was  Tammuz,  and 
the  other  was  called  Nin-gis-zida,  which  Sayce  renders  *  The  lord 
of  the  firmly-planted  stake.'  He  considers  that  Jachin  is  a  very 
passable  translation  of  Nin-gis-zida ;  and  suggests  that  Boaz  may 
be  a  corruption  of  Tammuz  (loc.  cit.,  p.  460).  Kittel  throws  out  the 
conjecture  that  the  mysterious  names  may  have  been  those  of  two 


126  I    KINGS  7.  23,  24.     T 

the  top  of  the  pillars  was  hly  work :  so  was  the  work  of 

23  the  pillars  finished.  And  he  made  the  molten  sea  of  ten 
cubits  from  brim  to  brim,  round  in  compass,  and  the 
height  thereof  was  five  cubits  :  and  a  line  of  thirty  cubits 

24  compassed  it  round  about.  And  under  the  brim  of  it 
round  about  there  were  knops  which  did  compass  it,  for 
ten  cubits,  compassing  the  sea  round  about :  the  knops 

ancient  mazzebas  which  had  stood  from  time  immemorial  on  the 
site  now  occupied  by  Solomon's  temple.  It  is  more  probable 
that  their  introduction  was  a  purely  conventional  imitation  of 
Phoenician  and  Babylonian  sanctuaries.  Whether  any  special 
symbolism  was  embodied  in  the  '  chapiters '  is  a  question  that  has 
hardly  been  considered  by  commentators ;  yet  it  is  extremely 
unlikely  that  their  curious  design  was  in  its  origin  merely  decora- 
tive. W.  R.  Smith  argued  with  amazing  ingenuity  and  erudition 
for  the  theory  that  they  had  the  form  of  cressets,  and  that  one  of 
them  was  used  for  burning  the  fat  of  the  sacrifices,  that  in  fact 
this  was  the  only  brazen  altar  of  the  temple  prior  to  the  time  of 
Ahaz  (Rel.  of  Sent.  2,  Note  K).  But  that  view  is  attended  by  many 
difficulties,  and  has  found  little  support,     (See  below  on  verse  41.) 

vii.  23-26.  The  Brazen  Sea.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  iv.  2-5.)  This 
was  a  huge  circular  basin,  measuring  ten  cubits  in  diameter  and 
five  in  depth,  and  said  to  have  been  capable  of  containing  2,000 
baths.  It  was  richly  ornamented  ;  and  the  casting  of  it  must  have 
been  an  even  greater  triumph  of  the  founder's  art  than  that  of  the 
pillars.  It  was  supported  on  the  backs  of  twelve  brazen  oxen, 
which  stood  facing  outwards,  three  towards  each  cardinal  point 
of  the  compass. 

23.  from  brim  to  brim :  i.  e.  in  diameter,  probably  the  inside 
measurement. 

a  line  of  thirty  cubits.  The  proportion  of  circumference  to 
diameter  is  not  matliematically  exact :  the  LXX  has  '  thirty-three 
cubits,'  which  is  too  much. 

24.  knops :  see  vi.  18,  The  w^ord  is  connected  with  that  for 
^  gourds ' ;  but  whether  it  was  the  fruit  or  the  flowers  (colocynth 
flowers)  that  was  imitated  in  the  ornamentation  is  uncertain. 

for  ten  cnbits.  The  marginal  rendering,  *  ten  in  a  cubit,'  is 
grammatically  inadmissible  ;  but  the  phrase  is  very  perplexing. 
Stade  thinks  that  a  scribe  intended  to  write  the  circumference 
from  verse  23,  but  by  mistake  inserted  the  diameter  instead. 

compassing"  .  .  .  abont :  is  wanting  in  LXX  (B),  and  perhaps 
better  omitted  as  a  variant  of  the  preceding  clause. 


I   KINGS  7.  .5-27.    T  127 

were  in  two  rows,  cast  when  it  was  cast.  It  stood  upon  25 
twelve  oxen,  three  looking  toward  the  north,  and  three 
looking  toward  the  west,  and  three  looking  toward  the 
south,  and  three  looking  toward  the  east :  and  the  sea 
was  set  upon  them  above,  and  all  their  hinder  parts  were 
inward.  And  it  was  an  handbreadth  thick ;  and  the  brim  26 
thereof  was  wrought  like  the  brim  of  a  cup,  like  the 
flower  of  a  lily:  it  held  two  thousand  baths.     And  he  37 

cast  when  it  was  cast :  i.  e.  in  one  mould  with  the  basin, 
unlike  the  ornaments  of  the  chapiters  of  the  pillars. 

26  precedes  S5  in  the  LXX — an  order  which  at  once  commends 
itself  as  natural.  The  thickness  of  the  casting  was  an  handbreadth, 
=  four  finger-breadths  (verse  15),  or  about  three  inches. 

like  the  hrim  of  a  cup,  like  the  flower  of  a  lily :  i.  e. 
widening  towards  the  surface. 

two  thousand  baths :  2  Chron.  iv.  5  has  3,000  ;  but  even 
the  lower  number  seems  exaggerated.  Taking  the  bath  as  sixty- 
five  pints  (Kennedy,  DB,  iv.  p.  912),  it  would  amount  to  about 
16,250  gallons,  whereas  the  sea,  even  if  it  had  been  cylindrical, 
w^ould  not  have  held  more  than  11,000  gallons.  Probably  1,000 
baths  would  have  been  near  its  actual  capacity. 

The  '  sea  '  was  to  stand  in  the  south-east  portion  of  the  temple 
court  (verse  39).  As  to  its  use  or  meaning,  nothing  whatever  is 
said  in  this  account ;  and  though  the  chronicler  (2  Chron.  iv.  6)  ex- 
plains that  it  was  used  by  the  priests  to  wash  in,  it  remains  highly 
probable  that  (like  the  pillars)  it  was  copied  from  Phoenician  or 
Babylonian  models,  and  had  originally  some  symbolic  significance. 
Kosters  {Theologisch  Tijdschrift,  1879,  p.  455^0  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  to  suggest  that  it  expressed  a  cosmological  idea, 
being  a  representation  of  the  World-ocean  {Tehom),  out  of  which, 
in  the  Babylonian  Creation-Epos,  Marduk  formed  the  habitable 
world,  after  a  conflict  with  the  Dragon  {Ti^amdt),  the  mythological 
personification  of  the  primaeval  chaos.  That  theory  still  lacks 
conclusive  evidence  ;  but  it  derives  some  support  from  the  fact 
that  in  the  temple  of  Marduk  in  Babylon  there  was  an  artificial  sea 
(ta-am-iu),  along  with  a  dragon  {KIB,  iii.  p.  143).  In  Solomon's 
temple  the  dragon  is  suppressed,  but  the  sea  remains  to  symbol- 
ize perhaps  Yahweh's  power  over  the  ocean,  a  theme  frequently 
dealt  with  in  the  poetic  mythology  of  the  O.  T.  (See  further, 
Sayce,  Early  Religions  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia,  p.  458  f. ;  Gunkel, 
Schdpfung  und  Chaos,  p.  27  f.,  153  ;  Jastrow,  Religion  of  Babylonia 
and  Assyria^  p.  653). 

vii.  27-39.     ^-^'^  ^"^''  Lavers  tvith  their  wheeled  Carriages.    These 


128  I    KINGS  7.  27.     T 

made  the  ten  bases  of  brass ;  four  cubits  was  the  length 
of  one  base,  and  four  cubits  the  breadth  thereof,  and 

were  to  stand  five  on  the  north  and  five  on  the  south  side  of  the 
temple  building  (^verse  39).  According  to  2  Chron.  iv.  6,  they 
were  for  washing  things  pertaining  to  the  burnt-offering  ;  this 
appears  to  imply  that  they  were  employed  to  convey  water  from 
the  sea  to  the  great  altar.  Whether  the  statement  is  historically 
accurate,  or  whether  in  addition  to  their  utilitarian  purpose  the 
vessels  had  also  a  symbolic  meaning,  we  cannot  at  present 
determine.  Kosters,  following  out  his  conception  of  the  symbol- 
ism of  the  brazen  sea,  regards  them  as  emblems  of  the  clouds,  the 
carriers  of  the  upper  waters  of  the  firmament  (Gen,  i.  6,  7). 

The  description  of  these  articles  is  the  most  difficult  part  of  the 
chapter ;  and  we  have  no  means  of  controlling  the  extremely 
confused  text  by  comparison  with  parallel  passages.  The  problem 
has  been  considerably  simplified  by  the  recent  discovery  at 
Larnaka  in  Cyprus)  of  a  miniature  specimen  of  the  apparatus  here 
described.  It  is  a  small  bronze  carriage  (about  15  inches  high, 
and  9  square)  mounted  on  four  wheels,  the  square  upper  frame 
supporting  a  cylindrical  ring,  which  was  adapted  to  receive 
a  rounded  vessel.  (A  reproduction  will  be  found  in  Burney's 
Notes,  p.  91.)  Its  size  is  thus  only  about  one -ninth  of  the  huge 
erections  we  are  now  to  consider ;  but  it  evidently  represents 
the  class  of  implements  to  which  they  belong,  and  is  at  present 
the  best  guide  we  have  to  the  construction  and  appearance  of  the 
laver-carriages  of  the  temple.  Before  this  discovery  most  writers 
found  it  necessary  to  distinguish  three  main  parts  of  the  struc- 
ture :  (i)  the  carriage  proper  {mekondh),  mounted  on  wheels; 
(2)  an  upper  framework  {ken),  resting  on  the  mekondh,  and 
carrying  a  circular  rim,  in  which  stood  (3)  the  laver  itself  (kiyyoy). 
Now  the  Larnaka  model  has  no  room  for  the  second  framework  ; 
and  it  is  improbable  that  it  ever  existed  except  in  the  imagination 
of  commentators.  Of  course,  the  textual  facts  which  led  to  its 
being  postulated  remain.  But  Stade  has  shown,  by  a  renewed 
examination  of  the  passage  {ZATIV,  1901,  p.  145-92),  that 
the  details  of  the  description  can  all  be  explained  by  the  newly 
discovered  implement,  on  the  assumption  that  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal parts  are  described  twice  over)  in  other  words,  that  the 
passage  before  us  has  been  produced  by  the  interweaving  of  two 
independent  and  slightly  divergent  accounts  of  the  same  objects. 
In  tlie  Notes  that  follow  Stade's  reconstruction  is  in  the  main 
adhered  to,  though  hesitation  is  expressed  with  regard  to  one  or 
two  points  of  detail. 

27  presents  no  difficulty.  It  gives  the  dimensions  of  the 
carriage  in  which  the  laver  was  set,  4  cubits  in  length  and  breadth, 


I    KINGS  7.  2P.     T 


129 


three  cubits  the  height  of  it.     And  the  work  of  the  bases  2I 
was  on  this  manner :  they  had  borders ;  and  there  were 


and  3  in  height.  The  measurements  of  the  LXX  (5  cubits  long, 
by  4  broad,  and  6  high)  are  erroneous.  The  word  for  "base 
{mekondh)  might  be  better  rendered  'stand.'  The  same  word 
(makdnat)  is  said  to  be  found  on  Minaean  inscriptions  in  Arabia, 
designating  a  framework  for  supporting  a  laver  (Hommel,  in 
Explorations  in  Bible  Lands^  p.  750). 

28.  The  carriage  (base)  must  obviously  have  been  constructed 
with  four  corner-posts,  connected,  on  each  of  the  four  sides,  by 
two  or  more  transverse  bars.  But  whether  these  essential  parts  of 
the  framework  are  denoted  by  the  borders  {jnisgeroih)  and  ledgfes 
{shelabbim) oiih.\sv&r%e  is  doubtful:  they  might  be  mentioned  merely 
for  the  sake  of  the  ornamentation  upon  them  (to  be  described  in  the 
next  verse).  A  word  similar  to  shelabbim  is  used  in  the  Talmud  of 
the  steps  of  a  ladder  ;  hence  it  would  naturally  mean  here  '  cross- 
pieces  '  ;  whether  the  cross-pieces  were  upright  or  horizontal  will 
depend  on  the  position  assigned  to 
the  misgeroth.  We  may  look  first 
at  Stade's  interpretation.  The  %nis- 
geroih  he  explains,  after  the  analog}' 
of  the  '  border '  of  the  shewbread 
table  of  the  tabernacle  (Exod.  xxv. 
25,  27),  as  narrow  horizontal  plates 
of  metal  extending  between  two 
posts,  and  forming  the  upper  and 
lower  bars  of  the  frame  {a,  a  in 
the  figure).  Taking  these  as  the 
two  sides  of  the  ladder,  the  cross- 
pieces  [shelabbim)  are  an  un- 
defined number  of  vertical  pieces  {b,  b)  uniting  the  upper  and 
lower  bars.  Unally,  he  supposes  a  second  set  of  misgeroth  (c,  c,  c), 
those,  namely,  which  are  said  in  this  verse  and  the  next  to  be 
between  tbe  ledg'es  (shelabbim).  One  objection  to  this  view  is 
that,  judging  from  2  Kings  xvi.  17,  the  misgeroth  must  have  been 
structurally  unimportant,  since  Ahaz  seems  to  have  removed  them 
without  material  injury  to  the  fabric.  Partly  for  this  reason,  other 
writers  prefer  the  sense  '  panels '  for  misgeroth  (see  R.  V.  marg.), 
taking  the  shelabbim  to  be  either  the  corner-posts  or  the  whole 
metal  framework,  whose  intervals  are  conceived  as  fitted  with 
thin  plates  of  brass.  So  far  as  verse  28  is  concerned,  that  would 
be  a  satisfactorj'-  explanation  ;  but  it  leads  to  confusion  when  we 
attempt  to  carry  it  through  the  following  verses  (see  verses  31,  32). 
On  the  whole,  therefore,  Stade's  construction  is  to  be  preferred  ; 
unless  we  were  to  assume  that  the  word  misgeroth  occurs  in  two 

K 


N, 

J^ 

1     1 

t 

(f 

c. 

■     c 

c 

<^ 

c 

n 

1     1 

r, 

k/ 

\4 

13©  I    KINGS  7.  29,  30.     T 

29  borders  between  the  ledges  :  and  on  the  borders  that 
were  between  the  ledges  were  lions,  oxen,  and  cherubim  ; 
and  upon  the  ledges  there  was  a  pedestal  above :  and 
beneath  the  lions  and  oxen  were  wreaths  of  hanging  work. 

30  And  every  base  had  four  brasen  wheels,  and  axles  of 
brass :  and  the  four  feet  thereof  had  undersetters  :  be- 
neath the  laver  were  the  undersetters  molten,  with  wreaths 

different  senses  in  the  two  parallel  accounts.  Stade  himself  hints 
at  this  as  a  possible  solution,  pointing  out  that  in  verse  36  (which 
is  obviously  the  parallel  to  verse  29)  the  word  Ifihoth  (plates) 
might  be  the  equivalent  of  the  niisgeroth  of  verses  28,  29.  But  he 
justly  observes  that  such  a  divergence  in  the  use  of  a  technical 
term  is  not  probable.  An  excellent  suggestion  (though  it  accentu- 
ates the  difficulty  referred  to  above)  has  been  made  by  Burney. 
Substituting  shelabbim  for  misgeroth  at  the  beginning,  he  renders  : 
'They  had  (upright)  supports,  and  there  were  border-frames 
between  the  supports.'  Besides  removing  a  grammatical  irregu- 
larity, this  construction  has  two  distinct  advantages :  {a)  it 
introduces  the  important  corner-posts  into  the  description  ;  and 
(6)  it  gets  rid  of  Stade's  second  set  of  misgeroth  altogether. 

29.  The  '  borders '  between  the  supports,  as  well  as  the 
supports  themselves,  were  decorated  with  figures  of  lions,  oxen 
and  cherubim.  Ornamentation  of  a  similar  character  is  seen  on 
the  Larnaka  model. 

and  npon  the  ledges. . . .  Render  (inserting  •  and  '  with  the 
LXX) :  '  and  upon  the  supports  likewise ;  and  above  and  below 
the  lions  and  oxen.'  The  following  word  is  corrupt.  Instead  of 
were  wreaths  of  we  may  (with  Burney)  read  '  and  cherubim,' 
which  is  necessary  after  *  lions  and  oxen,'  and  for  hanging*  work 
render  'was  bevelled  work,'  the  edges  of  the  misgeroth  being 
'  bevelled  in  the  form  of  steps.' 

30.  Each  stand  rested  on  four  wheels,  with  axles  of  brass, 
probably  one  axle  to  each  pair  of  wheels  (so  on  the  Larnaka 
wagon). 

The  feet  of  the  stand  would  naturally  mean  the  dov^mward 
prolongations  of  the  four  corner-posts,  in  the  ends  of  which  the 
wheels  were  fitted.  At  first  sight  it  seems  equally  natural  to 
identify  the  undersetters  Hit.  '  shoulders,'  marg.)  with  the  diagonal 
braces  represented  in  the  model  as  connecting  the  feet  with  the 
lower  bars  of  the  framework  (see  on  vii.  2 '.  But  in  that  case 
their  number  would  be  not  four  but  eight.  Moreover,  the  next 
phrase  lieneath  the  laver  would  require  us  to  suppose  that  the 
*  shoulders '  were  braces  extending  inwards  towards  the  centre 


I    KINGS  7.  BT,32.     T  131 

at  the  side  of  each.     And  the  mouth  of  it  within  the  31 
chapiter  and  above  was  a  cubit :  and  the  mouth  thereof 
was  round  after  the  work  of  a  pedestal,  a  cubit  and  an 
half :  and  also  upon  the  mouth  of  it  were  gravings,  and 
their  borders  were  foursquare,  not  round.     And  the  four  32 


of  the  base  of  the  stand,  beneath  the  bottom  of  the  lavers  when 
in  position.  Unfortunately  the  closing  words  (rendered,  with 
wreaths  at  the  side  of  each),  which  might  have  thrown  some 
light  on  the  structure,  are  hardly  intelligible ;  while  apart  from 
them  the  statement  that  '  the  shoulders  were  cast '  conveys  little 
meaning.  Stade's  view  of  the  construction  is  very  different. 
He  takes  the  feet  to  be  the  corner-posts  as  a  whole,  and  explains 
the  '  shoulders '  as  the  projecting  upper  ends  of  the  posts,  which 
in  the  model  are  surmounted  by  figures  of  small  birds.  It  has 
been  proposed  to  change  '  feet '  to  *  corners '  in  accordance  with 
verse  34.     The  reader  may  choose  ! 

31.  Here  at  least  the  description  certainly  passes  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  stand.  By  the  mouth  of  the  stand  is  meant  a  circular 
ring  of  brass,  held  by  the  four  bars  of  the  upper  frame,  and  rising 
above  them  to  the  height  of  one  (?)  cubit  (see  below).  Its  purpose 
was  of  course  to  receive  the  laver ;  its  diameter  was  therefore 
4  cubits  (verse  38),  exactly  the  length  of  one  side  of  the  square 
frame  in  which  it  was  contained  (verse  27).  The  word  chapiter 
must  be  a  mistake,  since  no  chapiters  are  mentioned  in  the  whole 
description.  Stade,  following  Ewald,  reads  'shoulders,'  which 
suits  his  view  of  what  the  shoulders  were,  and  no  doubt  strengthens 
the  presumption  that  that  view  is  correct.  The  only  alternative 
would  be  to  substitute  'borders,'  which  would  give  perhaps  an 
even  better  sense.  The  numeral  before  cubit  has  been  dropped 
out :  we  should  probably  insert  'one'  (but  see  on  verse  35).  The 
beginning  of  the  verse  should  thus  be  translated  :  '  And  its  mouth 
within  the  shoulder-pieces  (?)  and  upward  was  one  cubit.' 

round  after  the  work  of  a  pedestal:  i.e.  made  as  pedestals 
were  made ;  but  what  that  means  we  do  not  know.  The  words 
a  cubit  and  a  half  cannot  be  explained :  they  may  have  crept  in 
by  mistake  from  the  next  verse. 

gravings.  These  covered  the  projecting  part  of  the  ring 
(mouth)  on  its  outer  side. 

and  their  borders  were  fourscLuare,  not  round.  If  we  might 
substitute  '  its '  for  '  their,'  the  clause  has  a  good  sense  where  it 
stands  ;  it  reminds  us  that  while  the  mouth  was  round,  the  frame 
in  which  it  was  set  was  square.  But  Stade  is  possibly  right  in 
thinking  that  the  clause  is  the  immediate  continuation  of  verse  27, 
and  that  '  their '  refers  to  the  stands  of  verse  27.     The  intervening 

K  2 


132  I    KINGS  7.  33,  34.     T 

wheels  were  underneath  the  borders  ;  and  the  axletrees 
of  the  wheels  were  in  the  base  :   and  the  height  of  a 

33  wheel  was  a  cubit  and  half  a  cubit.  And  the  work  of 
the  wheels  was  like  the  work  of  a  chariot  wheel :  their 
axletrees,  and  their  felloes,  and  their  spokes,  and  their 

34  naves,  were  all  molten.     And  there  were  four  under- 

verses  (28 — '  gravings '  in  31)  he  regards  as  a  secondary  account  of 
the  laver-carriages,  partly  parallel  to  the  main  description  (which 
is  complete  in  itself)  in  verses  27,  31^,  32-39.  Another  division, 
however,  is  possible,  and  seems  equally  satisfactory.  Leaving 
31**  where  it  stands,  we  might  take  verses  27-31,  37-39  as  the 
main  account,  and  verses  32-36  as  the  secondary  parallel.  In 
any  case  it  is  tolerably  plain  that  verses  32-36,  to  which  we  now 
proceed,  are  a  duplicate  of  29-31  ;  they  describe  the  same  objects 
(wheels,  shoulder-pieces,  mouth,  ornamentation)  ;  though  with 
differences  in  the  details  and  in  the  terminology. 

32,  33  give  a  fuller  description  of  the  '  wheels '  than  verse  30. 
They  were  underneath  tlxe  borders  (see  on  verse  28) ;  i.  e. 
their  height  did  not  reach  to  the  lower  part  of  the  framework. 

and  the  axletrees  .  .  .  base :  perhaps,  '  and  the  holders  of 
the  wheels  were  in  the  stand.' 

axletrees  is  a  doubtful  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  word,  which 
means  ///.  '  hand ' ;  because  we  cannot  tell  whether  the  wheel 
revolved  on  the  axle  (like  an  ordinary  cart-wheel),  or  whether 
the  axle  itself  revolved  in  bearings  (as  in  a  locomotive)  ;  in  the 
latter  case  (which  is  the  more  probable  view)  the  '  hand '  might 
be  the  ring  through  which  the  axle  passed.  We  must  understand 
the  statement  to  mean  that  the  '  hands '  were  in  those  extensions 
of  the  corner-posts  of  the  base  which  were  called  its  '  feet '  in 
verse  30.  Stade  thinks  that  '  hands '  is  the  technical  designation 
of  the  diagonal  braces  mentioned  in  the  notes  on  verse  30 ;  but 
that  is  rather  forced  :  although  the  hands  were  in  the  base,  it 
appears  from  verse  33  that  they  belonged  specially  to  the  wheels. 
The  height  of  each  wheel  was  i^  cubits.  Neither  the  length  of 
the  '  feet '  nor  the  height  of  the  frame  above  the  ground  is  any- 
where specified.  In  the  Larnaka  model  the  height  of  the  upper 
bar  of  the  frame  from  the  ground  is  nearly  two  and  a  half  times 
the  depth  of  the  framework  itself:  if  we  suppose  the  proportions 
to  have  been  similar  in  Solomon's  vessels,  the  upper  bar  would 
have  stood  about  7^  cubits  (12  to  13  ft.)  high. 

33.  The  construction  of  the  wheels  resembled,  part  for  part, 
that  of  a  chariot-wheel ;  only,  '  the  whole  was  foundry- work.' 

axletrees :  '  holders,*  as  before. 


I   KINGS  7.  35-37.     T  133 

setters  at  the  four  corners  of  each  base :  the  undersetters 
thereof  were  of  the  base  itself.  And  in  the  top  of  the  35 
base  was  there  a  round  compass  of  half  a  cubit  high :  and 
on  the  top  of  the  base  the  stays  thereof  and  the  borders 
thereof  were  of  the  same.  And  on  the  plates  of  the  stays  36 
thereof,  and  on  the  borders  thereof,  he  graved  cherubim, 
lions,  and  palm  trees,  according  to  the  space  of  each, 
with  wreaths  round  about.     After  this  manner  he  made  37 


34.  undersetters:  'shoulder-pieces,'  see  on  verse  30. 

at  the  four  .  .  .  base  might  be  rendered,  *  for  the  four 
corner-pieces  of  one  stand.'  The  word  for  corners  (pinnoth) 
here  replaces  that  for  'feet'  (pe'dmoth)  in  the  parallel  account 
(verse  39),  and  being  equally  vague  in  meaning  leaves  the  same 
uncertainty  as  to  where  the  shoulder-pieces  were.  The  last 
clause  may  be  read :  '  The  shoulder-pieces  were  part  of  the  stand ' ; 
either  cast  in  one  piece  with  it,  or  rigidly  attached. 

35.  See  above  on  verse  31.  In  the  first  clause  the  subject 
is  omitted  in  the  original ;  we  must  insert  either  '  mouth '  or 
'pedestal,'  in  accordance  with  verse  31  (so  Stade),  and  render: 
'  And  in  the  top  of  the  stand  there  was  a  mouth  (pedestal),  half 
a  cubit  in  height,  circular  round  about.'  The  height  given  is  only 
half  of  what  was  taken  to  be  the  original  text  of  verse  31. 
Perhaps  it  should  be  '  a  cubit  and  a  half.'  The  remainder  of  the 
verse  defies  reasonable  explanation.  Stade  thinks  the  last  words, 
the  stays  ('hands')  thereof  .  .  .  same,  belong  to  the  parallel 
account,  and  finds  a  place  for  them  in  verse  30  after  axles  of 
brass :  but  the  difficulty  is  not  appreciably  lessened  by  this  trans- 
position. 

36  appears  to  be  the  parallel  to  verse  29.  So  far  as  it  can  be 
translated,  it  reads  :  'And  he  engraved  on  the  plates  cherubim, 
lions,  and  palm  trees.'  The  words  omitted,  of  the  stays  thereof, 
and  on  the  borders  thereof,  are  due  to  a  mistaken  repetition  from 
the  line  above ;  the  end  of  the  verse,  according  to  the  space  .  .  . 
about,  may  be  corrected  in  accordance  with  verse  30,  and  trans- 
lated :  '  with  wreaths  at  the  side  of  each.' 

plates  (/«/;o^A  =  tablets)  is  probably  a  comprehensive  designa- 
tion of  the  flat  surfaces  on  the  side  of  the  stand,  including  both  the 
ntisgeroth  and  the  shelabbim  of  verse  29  :  on  the  possibility  that  they 
might  be  '  panels,*  see  on  that  verse.  It  is  true  that  the  ornamenta- 
tion differs  from  that  of  verse  29  by  the  substitution  of  palm-trees 
for  oxen  ;  but  the  discrepancy  hardly  requires  us  to  refer  the 
descriptions  to  two  different  objects. 


134  I    KINGS  7.  38,  39.     T 

the  ten  bases  :  all  of  them  had  one  casting,  one  measure, 

38  and  one  form.  And  he  made  ten  lavers  of  brass  :  one 
laver  contained  forty  baths  ;  and  every  laver  was  four 
cubits :  and  upon  every  one  of  the  ten  bases  one  laver. 

39  And  he  set  the  bases,  live  on  the  right  side  of  the  house, 
and  five  on  the  left  side  of  the  house  :  and  he  set  the  sea 
on  the  right  side  of  the  house  eastward,  toward  the  south. 

37.  The  description  given  applies  to  all  the  ten  stands ;  Ihey 
are  uniform  in  every  respect. 

and  one  form :  omitted  by  LXX. 

38.  To  each  stand  a  circular  laver  is  made,  fitting  the  mouth- 
piece on  the  top,  4  cubits  in  diameter,  and  capable  of  holding 
40  baths  (about  375  gallons)  of  water. 

39.  See  introductory  note  to  verses  27  ff. 

We  conclude  the  somewhat  intricate  exposition  of  this  section 
with  a  continuous  translation  of  the  text  as  amended,  disentangling 
the  two  parallel  accounts  in  separate  columns  : — 

(27)  And  he  made  the  stands,  ten  in  number,  of  brass ;  one 
stand  was  four  cubits  in  length,  four  cubits  in  breadth,  and  three 
cubits  in  height.  (28)  And  the  construction  of  the  stand (s)  was  as 
follows ;  they  had  upright  supports ;  and  borders  between  the 
supports. 

(29)  And  on  the  borders  that  (32^    And    the    four   wheels 

were  between  the  supports  were  underneath  the  borders ; 
were  lions,  oxen,  and  cherubim,  and  the  holders  of  the  wheels 
and  upon  the  supports  in  like  were  in  the  stand  :  and  the 
manner ;  and  above  and  below  height  of  one  wheel  was  one 
the  lions  and  oxen  and  cherubim  and  a  half  cubits.  (33)  And  the 
was  bevelled  work.  (30)  And  make  of  the  wheels  was  like  the 
for  one  stand  there  were  four  make  of  a  chariot  wheel :  their 
wheels  of  brass,  with  axles  holders,  and  their  felloes,  and 
of  brass  ;  and  its  four  feet  their  spokes,  and  their  hubs, 
had  shoulder-pieces  under-  allwasfoundr3'-work.  (34)  And 
neath  the  laver  (?).  (31)  And  there  were  four  shoulder-pieces 
its  mouth-piece  within  the  for  the  four  corners  of  one  stand  : 
shoulder-pieces  (?  borders)  and  its  shoulder-pieces  were  part  of 
upward  was  one  cubit  ;  and  its  the  stand.  (35)  And  in  the  top 
mouth-piece  was  circular,  after  of  the  stand  was  a  mouth-piece, 
the  workmanship  of  a  pedestal :  half  a  cubit  in  height,  circular 
and  upon  its  mouth-piece  also  round  about.  (36)  And  he  en- 
were  gravings  ;  but  its  (?)  bor-  graved  on  the  plates  cherubim, 
ders  were  square,  not  round.  lions,     and     palm-trees,     with 

wreaths  at  the  side  of  each. 


I    KINGS  7.  40-44.     T  135 

And  Hiram  made  the  lavers,  and  the  shovels,  and  the  40 
basons.     So  Hiram  made  an  end  of  doing  all  the  work 
that  he  wrought  for  king  Solomon  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord  :  the  two  pillars,  and  the  two  bowls  of  the  chapiters  41 
that  were  on  the  top  of  the  pillars  ;  and  the  two  networks 
to  cover  the  two  bowls  of  the  chapiters  that  were  on  the 
top  of  the  pillars ;  and  the  four  hundred  pomegranates  42 
for  the  two  networks  ;  two  rows  of  pomegranates  for  each 
network,  to  cover  the  two  bowls  of  the  chapiters  that 
were  upon  the  pillars ;  and  the  ten  bases,  and  the  ten  43 
lavers  on  the  bases ;  and  the  one  sea,  and  the  twelve  44 

(37)  Thus  he  made  the  ten  stands  :  all  of  them  had  one  casting, 
and  one  measure.     (38)  And  he  made  the  ten  lavers  of  brass,  &c. 

vii.  40.     The  Smaller  Utensils. 

For  lavers  read  (with  LXX  and  parallel  passages)  *  pots.'  (Cf. 
verse  45.) 

shovels  :  utensils  for  cleaning  the  altar  (Exod.  xxvii.  3,  Sec), 
basons :  used  in  the  sacrificial  ritual  for  catching  the  blood 
and  dashing  it  on  the  altar. 

vii.  41-47.  Inventory  of  Hiiram-abi's  Works.  The  list  on  the 
whole  corresponds  with  the  preceding  detailed  descriptions;  but 
there  are  peculiarities  of  phraseology  which  go  to  show  that  the 
passage  is  taken  from  an  independent  but  ancient  and  valuable 
source.  This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  an  important  addition  of 
the  LXX  in  verse  45,  which  appears  to  have  been  omitted  by  the 
Hebrew  in  order  to  bring  about  perfect  harmony  with  what  has 
gone  before. 

41.  the  two  bowls  of  the  chapiters  are  doubtless  the  two 
chapiters  themselves  (as  distinct  from  the  ornamental  network)  ; 
but  this  is  the  only  place  where  we  are  informed  that  they  were 
globular  in  shape.  The  word  {gitUdh)  ordinarily  means  '■  bowl '  in 
Hebrew  ;  but  in  Assyrian  it  is  said  to  be  used  of  the  rounded 
ornament  of  a  pillar  (Jensen,  ZA,  IX.  p.  133)  ;  and  this  is  no  doubt 
the  sense  here.  W.  R.  Smith  held  that  the  chapiters  were  really 
bowl-shaped  cressets,  with  the  network  stretched  over  their  open 
mouths  like  the  grating  of  an  altar-hearth  ;  and  argued  that  they 
were  original!}'  intended  for  burning  the  fat  of  the  sacrifices  (see 
above,  p.  126,  and  ReL  of  Sent.'-,  Note  K). 

42.  The  close  of  the  verse,  to  cover  .  .  .,  is  perhaps  a  repetition 
of  the  similar  words  of  verse  41, 


136  I    KINGS  7.  45-48.     T 

45  oxen  under  the  sea ;  and  the  pots,  and  the  shovels,  and 
the  basons :  even  all  these  vessels,  which  Hiram  made 
for  king  Solomon,  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  were  of 

46  burnished  brass.  In  the  plain  of  Jordan  did  the  king 
cast  them,   in   the  clay   ground   between  Succoth  and 

47  Zarethan.  And  Solomon  left  all  the  vessels  tmweighed, 
because  they  were  exceeding  many :  the  weight  of  the 

48  brass  could  not  be  found  out.  And  Solomon  made  all 
the  vessels  that  were  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  :   the 

45.  After  house  of  the  LORD,  LXX  continues  :  *  and  the 
forty-eight  pillars  of  the  house  of  the  king  and  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord  :  all  the  works  of  the  king  did  Hiram  make  entirely  of  brass.' 
Although  we  have  no  mention  elsewhere  of  brazen  pillars  in  the 
palace  or  the  temple,  the  words  are  probably  genuine ;  a  certain 
irregularity  in  the  Hebrew  text  points  to  an  omission.  The  next 
four  or  five  verses  are  in  some  disorder  :  see  at  the  close. 

46.  Huram-abi's  foundry  was  in  the  Jordan  valley,  the  nearest 
place  probably  where  clay  suitable  for  the  great  moulds  could  be 
found.     (G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.,  p.  488.) 

For  the  kingf  read  '  he  '  (LXX) ;  the  subject  of  the  sentence 
being  obviously  Huram-abi. 

in  the  clay  ground :  lit.  *  in  the  thickness  of  the  soil '  (so 
LXX) ;  but  the  text  is  doubtful.  It  is  perhaps  better  to  amend 
and  read  with  Moore  {Judges,  p.  212  f.)  and  Benzinger  :  *  at  the 
ford  of  Adamah,'  Adamah,  '  the  city  beside  Zarethan  '  (Joshua 
iii.  i6),  is  probably  the  modern  ed-Damieh,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Jordan,  twenty-four  miles  from  its  mouth.  Succoth  is  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river  (Gen.  xxxiii.  17  ;  Joshua  xiii.  27  ;  Judges 
viii.  4,  5).  A  good  road  for  the  transport  of  the  vessels  to  Jerusalem 
was  essential ;  and  this  was  secured  by  choosing  a  situation  near 
one  of  the  principal  crossing-places  of  the  Jordan. 

47.  The  quantity  of  brass  consumed  was  so  great  that  no  attempt 
was  made  to  keep  a  record  of  its  weight. 

vii.  48-51.  The  Golden  Utensils  for  the  Interior  of  the  Temple. 
The  passage  is  usually  regarded  by  critics  as  a  late  addition  to  the 
original  account  of  the  temple  furniture.  The  chief  arguments  for 
this  opinion  are  :  (a)  the  improbability  of  so  lavish  an  expenditure 
of  gold  on  articles  like  hinges,  &c.  ;  (6)  the  mention  of  a  golden 
altar  within  the  temple,  of  which  there  is  no  historical  evidence  in 
pre-Exilic  times;  (c)  the  discrepancy  between  verse  48  and  vi.  20  fT., 
where  the  name  'altar'  is  applied  to  the  shewbread  table,  and  no 
other  altar  is  spoken  of.     It  is  urged  that  if  all  these  articles  had 


I    KINGS  7.  49,  50.     T  137 

golden  altar,  and  the  table  whereupon  the  shewbread 
was,  of  gold ;  and  the  candlesticks,  five  on  the  right  side,  49 
and  five  on  the  left,  before  the  oracle,  of  pure  gold ;  and 
the  flowers,  and  the  lamps,  and  the  tongs,  of  gold ;  and  50 
the  cups,  and  the  snuffers,  and  the  basons,  and  the 
spoons,  and  the  firepans,  of  pure  gold ;  and  the  hinges, 
both  for  the  doors  of  the  inner  house,  the  most  holy 
place,  and  for  the  doors  of  the  house,  to  wit^  of  the 

been  inside  the  temple,  the  proper  place  to  mention  them  would 
have  been  in  ch.  vi,  along  with  the  cherubim  and  the  altar  of 
cedar.  {d)  It  excites  suspicion  that  the  vessels  are  merely 
enumerated,  without  any  description  of  their  appearance  or 
mention  of  their  maker,  a  reticence  which  is  doubly  surprising  in 
contrast  with  the  elaborate  account  of  the  brazen  vessels  made  by 
Huram-abi.  These  considerations  are  perhaps  sufficient  to  show 
that  the  verses  do  not  belong  to  the  document  from  which  the 
previous  descriptions  are  taken.  At  the  same  time,  the  use  of  the 
word  dehir^  and  the  mention  of  ten  candlesticks  (as  contrasted 
with  the  one  candelabrum  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  second 
temple),  proves  that  the  account  rests  on  some  knowledge  (whether 
personal  or  traditional)  of  the  arrangements  of  the  pre-Exilic 
temple.  It  is  probable,  in  short,  that  such  articles  did  exist  in 
Solomon's  temple  ;  though  it  is  doubtful  if  they  were  made  by 
Solomon.     Cf.  2  Kings  xii.  13,  xxv.  14  ff.  ;  Jer.  Hi.  18  ff. 

48.  the  golden  altar  is  the  altar  of  incense,  which  stood  within 
the  tabernacle  (Exod.  xxx.  i  ff.,  xxxix.  38)  along  with  the  table 
for  the  shewbread  {lit.  *  bread  of  the  presence,'  Exod.  xxv.  23  ff.). 
That  the  latter  institution  was  ancient  is  known  from  i  Sam.  xxi. 
4  ff.  ;  the  incense  altar,  on  the  contrary,  is  unknown  in  pre-Exilic 
history,  and  is  not  mentioned  even  by  Ezekiel.  It  occurs  first  in 
secondary  strata  of  the  Priestly  Code  (Exod.  xxx,  xxxix);  and  of 
course  existed  in  the  second  temple  (i  Mace.  i.  21,  iv.  49  f.). 

49.  the  candlesticks  (rather,  '  lampstands  ')  stood  before  the 
oracle  {debir)  ;  i.  e.,  apparently,  along  the  partition-wall;,  five  on 
each  side  of  the  door.  These  candlesticks  are  nowhere  else 
mentioned  except  in  Jer.  Hi.  19  and  2  Chron.  iv.  7,  20  (but  cf. 
xiii.  n),  and  i  Chron.  xxviii.  15  (where  silver  candlesticks  are 
spoken  of  along  with  them).  Elsewhere  we  read  of  onl3'  one 
candlestick  with  seven  lamps  (represented,  as  is  well  known,  on 
the  Arch  of  Titus).  The  writer,  therefore,  cannot  have  drawn  his 
information  from  post-Exilic  times. 

the  flowers  are  the  flower-like  ornaments  of  the  candlesticks, 
in  which  the  lamps  rested  (see  Exod.  xxv.  31  ff.). 


138  I    KINGS  7.  51—8.  I.     TS 

51  temple,  of  gold.  Thus  all  the  work  that  king  Solomon 
wrought  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  was  finished.  And 
Solomon  brought  in  the  things  which  David  his  father 
had  dedicated,  even  the  silver,  and  the  gold,  and  the 
vessels,  and  put  them  in  the  treasuries  of  the  house  of 
the  Lord. 

8      [S]  Then  Solomon  assembled  the  elders  of  Israel, 

51.  The  work  being  completed,  Solomon  brings  the  consecrated 
gifts  of  his  father  David,  and  deposits  them  in  the  txeasxiries 
(perhaps  the  side-chambers)  of  the  new  sanctuary. 

tlie  thing's  .  .  .  dedicated :  ///.  *  the  sacred  things  of  David 
his  father.' 

The  vessels  (or  '  weapons '  ?)  might  include  shields  and  other 
trophies  of  victory,  tribute-gifts,  &c.,  such  as  we  read  of  in  2  Sam. 
viii.  7  ff.  :  verse  11  says  expressly  that  they  were  dedicated  to  the 
Lord. 

The  text  of  verses  46-51  is  hardly  in  its  original  condition.  The 
LXX  gives  a  better  sequence  by  transposing  verses  46  and  47  ; 
and  has  a  much  superior  reading  of  the  first  half  of  verse  47.  The 
words  'And  Solomon  left,'  which  most  naturally  mean  'And 
Solomon  deposited,'  and  cannot  possibly  be  translated  Meft  un- 
weighed,'  are  transferred  in  LXX  (L)  to  the  beginning  of  verse  48. 
where  they  find  a  suitable  context.  (See  the  exhaustive  Note  of 
Burney,  p.  99  ff.)  Making  these  changes,  and  omitting  verses 
48'*-5o  as  a  gloss,  the  close  of  the  passage  reads  as  follows  : — 

*  (47)  There  was  no  weight  to  the  brass  which  he  (i.  e.  Huram- 
abi)  made  into  all  these  vessels,  because  it  was  very  great :  the 
weight  of  the  brass  was  not  ascertained.  ^46)  In  the  plain  of 
Jordan  did  he  cast  them,  at  the  ford  of  Adamah  between  Succoth 
and  Zarethan.  (48)  And  Solomon  deposited  the  vessels  which  he 
had  made  in  the  house  of  Yahweh.  151)  Thus  all  the  work  that 
Solomon  wrought  in  the  house  of  Yahweh  was  finished.  And 
Solomon  brought  in  the  consecrated  things  of  David  his  father, 
the  silver,  and  the  gold,  and  the  vessels,  placing  them  in  the 
treasuries  of  the  house  of  Yahweh.' 

viii.   77/1?  Dedication  of  the  Temple. 

In  the  present  form  of  the  narrative  the  inaugural  ceremony 
appears  as  a  great  complex  function  in  three  acts  :  the  removal  of 
the  ark  to  its  new  abode  (verses  i-ii',  ;  the  orations  and  prayer 
of  Solomon  (12-61'.;  and,  finall3'.  the  dedicatory  sacrifices  and 
celebration  of  the  annual  festival  ,6a-66).     The  critical  analysis 


I    KINGS  8.  I.     PS  139 

[P]  and  all  the  heads  of  the  tribes,  the  princes  of  the 
fathers'  houses  of  the  children  of  Israel,  unto  king 
Solomon  [S]  in  Jerusalem,  to  bring  up  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord  out  of  the  city  of  David,  which  is 

of  the  chapter,  however,  discloses  a  more  profound  and  instructive 
division,  by  which  the  historical  exposition  of  the  passage  must  be 
guided.  The  whole  section,  namely,  from  verse  14  to  verse  61,  is 
demonstrably  Deuteronomic  from  beginning  to  end,  and  must 
have  been  composed  and  inserted  by  the  compilers  of  the  Book  of 
Kings.  Removing  this  long  expansion,  we  have  left  in  verses  1-13 
the  original  account  of  the  transference  of  the  ark,  closing  with 
the  only  authentic  utterance  of  Solomon  on  this  occasion  (verses 
12  f.).  It  is  probable  (though  not  certain)  that  the  conclusion  of 
this  ancient  narrative  lies  in  verses  62-66.  Thus  we  are  led  to 
the  following  threefold  division  of  the  chapter :  (i)  the  old 
account  of  the  ceremonies  connected  with  the  placing  of  the 
ark  in  the  temple,  verses  1-13  ;  (2)  the  speeches  put  by  the 
Deuteronomic  writers  into  the  mouth,  of  Solomon,  verses  14-61 ; 
(3)  the  account — partly  ancient— of  the  dedicatory  sacrifices  and 
the  festival,  verses  62-66. 

viii.  1-13.  The  transportation  of  the  Ark  :  Solomon's  poetic 
Dedication.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  v.  2— vi.  2.)  The  section  has  been 
somewhat  freely  interpolated,  partly  by  the  Deuteronomic  com- 
pilers, but  still  more  by  a  later  editor,  whose  point  of  view  is  that 
of  the  Priestly  Code.  Many  of  these  additions  are  wanting  in  the 
LXX,  which  represents  (especially  in  the  first  five  verses)  a  shorter 
and  purer  text  than  the  Hebrew.  When  these  are  eliminated, 
there  remains  a  kernel  of  narrative  which  satisfies  every  test  of 
antiquity  and  historicity  which  we  can  reasonably  apply.  There 
is  a  prima  facie  probability  that  the  long  records  of  the  building 
of  the  temple  in  ch.  v-vii  were  followed  by  an  account  of  its 
dedication  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  verses  before 
us  were  taken  from  some  ancient  document. 

1,2.  In  the  shorter  recension  of  the  LXX  the  verses  read  : 
*  Then  king  Solomon  assembled  all  the  elders  of  Israel  in  Zion  to 
bring  up  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  Yahweh  from  the  city  of 
David,  which  is  Zion,  m  the  month  Ethanim.' 

The  elders  of  Israel  are  the  representatives  of  the  old  tribal 
aristocracy — tlie  lieads  of  tri"bes  and  princes  of  fathers'  houses 
(i.  e.  *  chiefs  of  families '),  as  is  quite  correctly  explained  in  the 
gloss  which  follows.  The  terms  of  the  gloss,  however,  are 
distinctive  of  the  Priestly  Code.  The  reading  Jerusalem  of  the 
Hebrew  text  is  preferable  to  the  '  Zion  '  of  LXX. 

the  city  of  David,  which  is  Zion  :  (see  on  ii.  10).    The  name 


I40  I    KINGS  8.  2, 3.     S  AND  P 

2  Zion.     [P]  And  all  the  men  of  Israel  assembled  them- 
selves unto  king  Solomon  at  the  feast,  [S]  in  the  month 

3  Ethanim,  [P]  which  is  the  seventh  month.    [S  ?]  And  all 
the  elders  of  Israel  came,  [P  ?]  and  the  priests  took  up 

Zion  was  originally  restricted  to  the  site  of  the  Jebusite  fort  on 
the  lower  southern  spur  of  the  eastern  hill  of  Jerusalem,  on  the 
higher  northern  plateau  of  which  the  temple  now  stood  (note 
the  expression  *  bring  up ').  In  later  times  it  was  extended  to 
the  temple  hill  generally,  and  eventually  to  the  whole  city. 

2.  On  the  montli  Ethanim,  and  the  gloss  which  is  the  seventh 
month,  see  on  vi.  37,  38. 

at  the  feast.  Throughout  the  O.  T.  the  feast  par  excellence 
is  the  autumn  festival,  the  '  feast  of  ingathering  at  the  end  of  the 
year.'  In  later  times  it  was  certainly  held  in  the  seventh  month 
(Lev.  xxiii.  34  ff. ;  Num.  xxix.  12  ff.)  ;  and  in  spite  of  xii.  32  there 
is  no  clear  evidence  that  this  was  not  always  the  custom  in  the 
southern  kingdom  (see  the  note  on  the  verse).  The  time  of 
the  festival  is  nowhere  prescribed  in  the  pre-Exilic  legislation 
(Exod.  xxiii.  16,  xxxiv.  22  ;  Deut.  xvi.  13) ;  and  the  truth  may  be 
that  it  varied  at  different  sanctuaries  according  to  the  season  of 
the  fruit-gathering.  There  is,  therefore,  no  difficulty  in  supposing 
that  the  festival  actually  fell  in  the  seventh  month.  The  phrase 
is  wanting  in  the  LXX,  and  may  of  course  be  a  gloss  ;  but  the 
fact  remains  that  the  dedication  did  coincide  with  *  the  feast ' 
(see  verse  65).  A  more  serious  difficulty  arises  from  the  com- 
•'  parison  of  this  notice  with  vi.  38.  If  the  temple  was  not  finished 
till  the  eighth  month,  how  could  the  dedication  take  place  in  the 
seventh?  The  simplest  explanation,  though  critics  are  slow  to 
entertain  it,  is  that  the  dedication  was  postponed  to  the  year 
following  the  completion  of  the  house  (so  Farrar,  i.  p.  167).  It  is 
quite  conceivable  that  vi.  38  refers  only  to  the  building,  and  that 
Huram-abi's  works  were  not  ready  till  some  months  later.  Kittel, 
who  assigns  vi.  2— vii.  12  and  vii.  13-51  to  different  sources,  holds 
that  viii.  1-13  is  the  continuation  of  the  latter,  which  he  supposes 
to  have  followed  a  different  tradition  as  to  the  date  of  the  comple- 
tion of  the  temple  from  vi.  38.  That  is  not  a  probable  view, 
because  ch.  viii  presupposes  a  knowledge  of  ch.  vi  but  not  of 
vii.  13  ff.  As  a  last  resource  it  is  proposed  (Stade,  Benzinger,  &c.) 
to  delete  the  phrase  '  in  the  month  Ethanim '  as  a  gloss,  and  retain 
'  at  the  feast,'  with  the  understanding  that  the  feast  was  observed 
in  ancient  times  in  the  eighth  month.  But  that  is  a  very  arbitrary 
proceeding,  in  view  of  the  pre-Exilic  phraseology  of  the  clause. 

3,  4.  Here  again  the  text  shows  unmistakcable  traces  of  post- 
Exilic  redaction.      First  of  all,  the  statement  that  the  Tent  of 


I    KINGS  8.  4-6.     S  AND  P  141 

the  ark.    [S  ?]  And  they  brought  up  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  4 
[P]  and  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  all  the  holy  vessels 
that  were  in  the  Tent;  even  these  did  the  priests  and 
the  Levites  bring  up.     [S]  And  king  Solomon  and  all  5 
[P]  the  congregation  of  [S]  Israel,  [P]  that  were  assem- 
bled unto  him,  were  with  him  [S]  before  the  ark,  sacri- 
ficing sheep  and  oxen,  that  could  not  be  told  nor  num- 
bered for  multitude.     And  the  priests  brought  in  the  ark  6 
of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  unto  its  place,  into  the  oracle 
of  the  house,  [P]  to  the  most  holy  place,  [S]  even  under 

Meeting  and  its  vessels  were  brought  up  to  the  temple  along  with 
the  ark  cannot  be  historical.  The  sources  of  Kings  know  of  no 
sacred  tent  except  that  made  by  David  for  the  ark  (see  on  i.  39)  ; 
but  this  is  never  called  '  Tent  of  Meeting,'  and  would  hardly  have 
been  thought  worthy  of  being  transported  to  the  new  sanctuary. 
The  Tent  of  Meeting  can  mean  nothing  else  than  the  tabernacle 
*  which  Moses  made  in  the  wilderness '  (i  Chron.  xxi.  29),  which 
late  writers  like  the  chronicler  supposed  to  be  still  in  existence 
in  the  time  of  Solomon.  Hence  that  whole  clause,  although  it  is 
found  in  the  LXX,  must  be  removed.  Similarly,  the  distinction 
between  priests  and  Iievites  in  the  end  of  verse  4  implies  the 
standpoint  of  the  Priestly  Code  (see  Driver,  Dent.  p.  219)  ;  and 
this  clause  also  must  be  omitted,  as  in  the  LXX.  What  now 
remains  of  the  two  verses  consists  of  two  doublets  :  (a)  '  And  all 
the  elders  of  Israel  came  and  brought  up  the  ark  of  Yahweh '  ; 
and  (6)  'And  the  priests  took  up  {or,  carried)  the  ark.'  It  is 
difficult  to  say  which  of  these  represents  the  original  text.  The 
LXX  retains  only  {b)  ;  yet,  on  internal  grounds,  we  are  disposed 
to  regard  (a)  as  the  better  reading.  We  may  suppose  {b)  to  have 
been  a  marginal  correction  to  remind  the  reader  that  the  ark  must 
have  been  actually  carried  by  priests  ;  and  the  LXX  translators, 
recognizing  that  one  or  other  of  the  two  readings  was  superfluous, 
may  have  adopted  the  more  precise  statement  and  let  the  other 
drop. 

5.  The  numerous  sacrifices  were  probably  offered  at  stages  on 
the  route,  as  at  David's  removal  of  the  ark  to  the  metropolis 
(2  Sam.  vi.  13).  The  verse  should  probably  be  read  as  simplified 
in  accordance  with  the  LXX  :  *  And  the  king  and  all  Israel  (went) 
before  the  ark,  sacrificing  sheep  and  oxen,'  &c. 

6.  The  priests  deposit  the  ark  in  the  place  prepared  for  it  in 
the  debir  of  the  temple.  The  words  to  the  most  holy  place  are 
a  Priestly  gloss  (as  in  vi.  16). 


142  I   KINGS  8.  7-1  r.     SDS 

7  the  wings  of  the  cherubim.  For  the  cherubim  spread 
forth  their  wings  over  the  place  of  the  ark,  and  the 
cherubim  covered  the  ark  and  the  staves  thereof  above. 

8  And  the  staves  were  so  long  that  the  ends  of  the  staves 
were  seen  from  the  holy  place  before  the  oracle;  but 
they  were  not  seen  without :   and  there  they  are,  unto 

9  this  day.  There  was  nothing  in  the  ark  save  the  two 
tables  of  stone  which  Moses  put  there  at  Horeb,  [D]  when 
the  Lord  made  a  covenant  with  the  children  of  Israel, 

10  when  they  came  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  [S]  And  it 
came  to  pass,  when  the  priests  were  come  out  of  the 
holy  place,  that  the  cloud  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord, 

1 1  so  that  the  priests  could  not  stand  to  minister  by  reason 
of  the  cloud  :  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  house 
of  the  Lord. 


7,  8.  The  exact  position  of  the  ark  under  the  wings  of  the 
cherubim  is  carefully  defined.  The  meaning  of  verse  8  seems  to 
be  that  the  ark  lay  east  and  west,  in  such  a  position  that  its  staves 
could  just  be  seen  in  the  darkness  of  the  inner  chamber  from  the 
main  hall,  but  did  not  extend  beyond  the  door.  In  Exod.  xxv.  15 
it  is  directed  that  the  staves  of  the  ark  should  not  be  removed. 
The  words  and  there  they  are  unto  this  day  are  not  in  the  LXX, 
but  are  doubtless  genuine  :  the  temptation  to  omit  them  in  later 
times  is  obvious. 

9.  The  contents  of  the  ark.  Why  the  writer  says  it  contained 
nothing  but  the  tables  of  stone  we  cannot  tell,  unless  there  was 
a  current  impression  that  it  held  something  else.  As  to  what  the 
ark  really  did  contain  at  this  time,  see  Kennedy  in  DB,  i.  p.  151. 
It  may  be  noted  that  the  expression  '  Ark  of  the  covenant  of 
Yahweh  '  seems  to  have  originated  in  the  Deuteronomic  school  of 
writers  ;  and  the  latter  part  of  this  verse  shows  clearly  what  was 
meant  by  it.  It  is  necessary  to  insert  a  phrase  from  the  LXX, 
and  read  (after  Horeb)  :  'the  tables  of  the  covenant  which 
Yahweh  made  with  .  .  .  Egypt.'     (Cf.  verse  21.) 

10,  11.  The  introduction  of  the  ark  into  the  shrine  is  followed 
by  the  appearing  of  the  glory  of  Yahweh  in  the  form  of  a  cloud, 
the  ancient  symbol  of  the  theophany  (Exod.  xxxiii.  9  ff.).  It  is 
the  visible  token  that  Yahweh  has  taken  up  His  abode  in  the  new 
temple. 


I    KINGS  8.  12,  T?,.     S  143 

Then  spake  Solomon,  The  Lord  hath  said  that  he  12 
would  dwell  in  the  thick  darkness.  I  have  surely  built  13 
thee  an  house  of  habitation,  a  place  for  thee  to  dwell 

12,  13  contain,  in  a  mutilated  text,  the  pregnant  formula  of 
dedication  uttered  by  Solomon  on  this  occasion.  The  complete 
poetic  form  of  the  quatrain  can  be  recovered  by  the  help  of  the 
LXX,  which  puts  the  verse  after  verse  53  (an  additional  proof 
that  the  text  of  the  chapter  has  been  dislocated  by  the  insertion 
of  verses  14  ff.),  and  adds  a  note  to  the  effect  that  the  words  were 
taken  from  the  '  Book  of  Songs.'  Wellhausen  has  plausibly 
conjectured  that  this  is  a  mistake  for  'Book  of  Jashar^,'  an  old 
collection  of  poetry  which  contained  Joshua's  apostrophe  to  the 
sun  and  moon  at  Gibeon  (Joshua  x.  13),  and  David's  elegy  on  Saul 
and  Jonathan  (2  Sam.  i.  18).  Of  the  various  reconstructions  of 
the  text  that  have  been  proposed,  we  here  follow  that  given  by 
Cheyne  in  Origin  of  the  Psalter,  pp.  193,  212;  it  may  be  translated 
thus  : — 

'  The  sun  has  Yahweh  set  in  the  heavens  ; 

He  (himself)  has  resolved  to  dwell  in  thick  darkness  : 

Built  have  I  a  lofty  mansion  for  thee, 

A  place  for  thee  to  dwell  in  for  (all)  ages.' 

A  singular  interest  attaches  to  this  obscure  and  perhaps  fragmen- 
tary epigram,  _/7r5/  as  an  authentic  document  of  the  early  Hebrew 
conception  of  the  nature  of  Yahweh,  and  second  as  an  expression 
of  the  religious  idea  embodied  in  the  erection  of  the  temple. 
The  striking  contrast  in  the  first  two  lines,  '  between  the  sun  in 
his  glorious  heavenly  mansion  and  the  cloud-inhabiting  Creator ' 
(Cheyne),  reveals  even  at  this  early  period  a  belief  in  Yahweh  as 
the  Creator  of  the  universe  ;  and  also  a  sense  of  the  paradox 
involved  in  building  a  habitation  for  a  Being  so  glorious  and 
powerful.  The  higher  religious  minds  of  Israel  had  therefore 
advanced  beyond  the  conception  of  a  merely  tribal  or  national 
Deity  to  that  of  a  God  who,  under  self-imposed  limitations,  is  the 
Maker  and  Lord  of  Nature.  The  last  two  lines  apply  this  thought 
to  the  building  of  the  temple  :  the  dark  inner  shrine  is  a  suitable 
dwelling-place  for  the  Being  who  has  chosen  to  shroud  Himself 
in  thick  darkness  ;  while  the  external  magnificence  of  the  structure 
as  a  whole  is  worthy  of  Him  who  has  fixed  the  sun  in  the  heavens. 
The  theology  of  the  passage  may  be  expressed  in  these  three 
propositions  :  (i)  the  temple  is  literally  the  dwelling-place  of 
Yahweh  ;  (2)  Yahweh  is  at  the  same  time  the  Creator  of  the 
world  ;    (3)  the  darkness  in  which   He  dwells   symbolizes   the 

^  itrJ'^rr  misread  by  transposition  as  yni^rt. 


144  I    KINGS  8.  14,  15.     SD 

14  in  for  ever.  [D]  And  the  king  turned  his  face  about, 
and  blessed  all  the  congregation  of  Israel :  and  all  the 

15  congregation  of  Israel  stood.  And  he  said,  Blessed  be 
the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  which  spake  with  his  mouth 
unto  David  my  father,  and  hath  with  his  hand  fulfilled 

mystery  of  Divinity,  the  contrast  between  His  nearness  to  Israel 
and  His  essential  power  and  majesty.  In  so  far  as  the  founding 
of  the  temple  impressed  this  profound  idea  of  God  on  the  mind 
of  the  nation,  it  was  an  event  of  the  first  importance  in  the  history 
of  the  O.  T.  religion. 

viii.  14-61.     The  Orations  of  Solomon. 

Cf.  2  Chron.  vi.  3-42.  It  was  a  common  practice  of  ancient 
historians  to  throw  their  own  interpretation  of  a  historical  situation 
into  the  form  of  speeches  supposed  to  have  been  delivered  at  the 
time  by  the  leading  personages  of  the  story.  The  compiler  of 
Kings  here  avails  himself  of  this  literary  license,  in  order  to  give 
expression  to  his  own  view  of  the  supreme  significance  of  this 
great  event  in  the  history  of  his  people.  The  passage  is  remark- 
able for  the  orderly  arrangement  of  thought ;  and  it  exhibits  all 
the  oratorical  power  which  characterizes  the  Deuteronomic  school 
of  writers.  It  consists  of  three  parts:  (i)  Solomon's  address  to 
the  people,  verses  15-21;  (2)  his  Dedicatory  Prayer,  22-53  ;  and 
(3)  the  Benediction,  54-61. 

There  are  some  indications  that  the  literary  unity  of  the 
composition  is  not  perfect.  The  position  of  verses  12  f.  in  the  LXX, 
between  verses  53  and  54,  and  the  omission  of  the  last  section  in 
Chronicles,  are  difficult  to  account  for  except  on  the  assumption 
of  some  very  extensive  re-an-angements  of  the  text  in  late  times. 
Moreover,  some  allusions  (e.  g.  25  ff.)  assume  the  existence  of  the 
Monarchy  and  the  temple,  while  others  (46  ff.")  have  been  thought 
to  presuppose  the  experience  of  the  Exile.  But  these  differences 
do  not  interfere  with  the  general  conclusion  that  the  passage  as 
a  whole  is  Deuteronomic.  That  is  abundantly  proved  by  the 
numerous  coincidences  in  style  with  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy 
and  the  Deuteronomic  parts  of  Joshua.  Of  these,  a  list  is  given 
in  Driver's  Introduction^,  p.  200 f.;  see  also  Burney  in  DB,  ii. 
p.  859  ff.,  and  more  fully  in  his  Notes,  p.  ii5fr. 

viii.  14-21.  The  Address  to  the  People.  This  is  mainly  a  recapitu- 
lation, based  on  2  Sam.  vii.  sff.,  of  the  providential  circumstances 
which  had  led  up  to  the  building  of  the  temple. 

15,  16.  A  free  rendering  of  2  Sam.  vii.  6f.,  but  with  an  im- 
portant modification  from  the  Deuteronomic  point  of  view.     The 


I    KINGS  8.  16-21.     D  145 

it,  saying,  Since  the  day  that  I  brought  forth  my  people  16 
Israel  out  of  Egypt,  I  chose  no  city  out  of  all  the  tribes 
of  Israel  to  build  an  house,  that  my  name  might  be 
there ;  but  I  chose  David  to  be  over  my  people  Israel. 
Now  it  was  in  the  heart  of  David  my  father  to  build  17 
an  house  for  the  name  of  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel. 
But  the  Lord  said  unto  David  my  father.  Whereas  it  18 
was  in  thine  heart  to  build  an  house  for  my  name,  thou 
didst  well  that  it  was  in  thine  heart :  nevertheless  thou  19 
shalt  not  build  the  house ;   but  thy  son  that  shall  come 
forth  out  of  thy  loins,  he  shall  build  the  house  for  my 
name.     And  the  Lord  hath  established  his  word  that  he  20 
spake;    for  I  am  risen  up  in  the  room  of  David  my 
father,  and  sit  on  the  throne  of  Israel,  as  the  Lord 
promised,  and  have  built  the  house  for  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel.     And  there  have  I  set  a  place  21 
for  the  ark,  wherein  is  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  which 


meaning  in  Samuel  is  that  Yahweh  had  dwelt  in  a  tent  since  the 
Exodus,  and  did  not  wish  to  be  installed  in  a  '  house  of  cedar.' 
Here,  on  the  contrary,  the  idea  is  that  the  period  since  the  Exodus 
had  been  a  transition  period,  during  which  Yahweh  had  not 
indicated  the  place  where  His  temple  was  to  be  erected.  The 
standpoint  is  obviously  that  of  Deut.  xii.   11,  &c. 

that  my  name  might  he  there.     See  below  on  verse  29. 

but  I  chose  David.  Read,  inserting  a  clause  from  LXX 
and  2  Chron.  vi.  6,  'but  (now)  I  have  chosen  Jerusalem  that  my 
name  might  be  there,  and  I  have  chosen  David.'  David's  city  and 
David's  dynasty  are  frequently  associated  as  theocratic  institutions; 
they  are  twin  pledges  of  Yahweh's  covenant  relation  to  Israel. 

17-19.  The  building  of  the  temple  is  the  realization  of  a  cherished 
design  of  David,  which  was  overruled  at  the  time,  for  reasons  not 
here  stated  (see  on  verse  3).  Verse  19  refers  to  2  Sam.  vii.  13, 
where  it  is  simply  stated  that  the  temple  was  to  be  built  by  David's 
son.  That  verse,  however,  is  evidently  itself  a  Deuteronomic 
interpolation  in  2  Sam.  vii,  for  it  is  clear  that  the  whole  drift 
of  Nathan's  oracle  is  as  little  favourable  to  the  building  of  a  temple 
by  Solomon  as  it  is  to  David's  proposal  to  build  one  himself. 
21.  wherein  is  the  covenant  of  the  LORD.     See  on  verse  9. 


146  I    KINGS  8.  22-27.     D 

he  made  with  our  fathers,  when  he  brought  them  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt. 
2  3      And  Solomon  stood  before  the  altar  of  the  Lord  in 
the  presence  of  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  and  spread 

23  forth  his  hands  toward  heaven  :  and  he  said,  O  Lord, 
the  God  of  Israel,  there  is  no  God  like  thee,  in  heaven 

24  above,  or  on  earth  beneath ;  who  keepest  covenant  and 
mercy  with  thy  servants,  that  walk  before  thee  with  all 
their  heart :  who  hast  kept  with  thy  servant  David  my 
father  that  which  thou  didst  promise  him  :  yea,  thou 
spakest  with  thy  mouth,  and  hast  fulfilled  it  with  thine 

35  hand,  as  it  is  this  day.  Now  therefore,  O  Lord,  the 
God  of  Israel,  keep  with  thy  servant  David  my  father 
that  which  thou  hast  promised  him,  saying,  There  shall 
not  fail  thee  a  man  in  my  sight  to  sit  on  the  throne  of 
Israel ;   if  only  thy  children  take  heed  to  their  way,  to 

36  w-alk  before  me  as  thou  hast  walked  before  me.  Now 
therefore,  O  God  of  Israel,  let  thy  word,  I  pray  thee, 
be  verified,  which  thou  spakest  unto  thy  servant  David 

27  my  father.     But  will  God  in  very  deed  dwell  on  the 

viii.  22-53.  "^^^  Prayer  of  Dedication.  It  is  delivered  by  Solomon 
standing  in  front  of  the  altar,  with  hands  outstretched  to  heaven — 
the  universal  ancient  attitude  in  prayer  (Exod.  ix.  29  ;  Isa.  i.  15  ; 
2  Mace.  iii.  20,  &c.  :  see  Riehm,  Handworterbttch,  p.  485  ff.). 

viii.  23-26.  Prayer  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  to  David 
(2  Sam.  vii.  12  ff.). 

24,  indeed,  speaks  of  the  promise  as  already  fulfilled  in  the 
establishment  of  Solomon's  kingdom,  and  the  completion  of  the 
temple  ;  but 

25,  26  contemplate  a  larger  fulfilment  in  the  maintenance  of 
the  newly-founded  dynasty. 

viii.  27-30.  The  burden  of  all  the  following  petitions  is  here  ex- 
pressed in  general  terms,  viz.  that  the  temple  may  ever  be  the 
guarantee  of  intercourse  between  heaven  and  earth,  the  symbol 
and  pledge  of  the  answer  to  prayer. 

27.  But  will  God  in  very  deed.  In  what  sense  can  this  house 
be  thought  of  as  the  dwelling-place  of  the  infinite  and  omnipresent 


I    KINGS  8.  28-30.     D  147 

earth  ?  behold,  heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot 
contain  thee;   how  much  less  this  house  that  I  have 
builded  !   Yet  have  thou  respect  unto  the  prayer  of  thy  28 
servant,  and  to  his  supplication,  O  Lord  my  God,  to 
hearken  unto  the  cry  and  to  the  prayer  which  thy  servant 
prayeth  before  thee  this  day :    that  thine  eyes  may  be  29 
open  toward  this  house  night  and  day,  even  toward  the 
place  whereof  thou  hast  said,  My  name  shall  be  there : 
to  hearken  unto  the  prayer  which  thy  servant  shall  pray 
toward  this  place.    And  hearken  thou  to  the  supplication  30 
of  thy  servant,  and  of  thy  people  Israel,  when  they  shall 

Yahweh  ?  LXX  and  Chronicles  have,  dwell  with  men  on  the 
earth.  The  question  leads  up  to  a  conception  of  God's  dwelling 
in  the  temple,  more  spiritual  than  that  which  prevailed  in  earlier 
times  (verse  13).  It  becomes,  as  it  were,  the  ideal  point  of 
contact  at  which  God's  thought  and  man's  thought  meet  and 
touch  each  other,  and  real  religious  communion  is  established 
between  them.     This  is  the  idea  implied  in  verse 

29.  Yahweh's  eyes  are  to  be  open  toward  this  house  night 
and  day :  when  Israel  prays  toward  this  place  Yahweh  will 
hear  *in  heaven  His  dwelling  place,' and  answer  (cf  verse  52). 
In  the  examples  which  follow  (verses  31  ff.),  the  prayer  is  con- 
ceived sometimes  as  offered  in  the  temple,  sometimes  as  directed 
towards  it ;  in  either  case  the  underlying  idea  is  the  same. 

whereof  thou  hast  said,  My  name  shall  be  there.  See 
Deut.  xii.  5,  11,  xiv.  23,  24,  xvi.  2,  6,  11,  xxvi.  2.  The  association 
of  the  Divine  name  with  the  sanctuary  is  mostly  Deuteronomic 
or  later  (2  Sam.  vii,  13  ;  i  Kings  iii.  2,  v.  3,  5,  &c.)  ;  but  it  appears 
in  at  least  one  older  passage,  Exod.  xx.  24  ('where  I  will  cause 
my  name  to  be  commemorated').  The  idea  probably  originated 
in  the  liturgical  phrase,  *  to  call  on  the  name '  of  the  Deity 
(Gen.  iv.  26,  xii.  8,  xiii.  4,  &c.).  It  describes  the  evocation  of  the 
Deity,  by  the  solemn  utterance  of  His  name,  which  is  the  pre- 
liminary to  every  act  of  worship.  Hence,  to  say  that  the  name 
of  Yahweh  is  in  the  sanctuary  means  practically,  and  in  the  first 
instance,  that  in  that  place  Yahweh  will  answer  to  His  name — 
will  reveal  His  gracious  presence  in  response  to  the  worship  of 
His  servants.  Whether,  or  in  what  degree,  the  Deuteronomic 
usage  of  the  expression  implies  a  hypostasis  of  the  name,  as 
a  special  and  local  manifestation  of  the  Divine  presence,  is 
a  question  that  need  not  be  discussed  here. 

L  2 


148  I    KINGS  8.  31-35.     D 

pray  toward  this  place :   yea,  hear  thou  in  heaven  thy 

31  dwelHng  place;  and  when  thou  hearest,  forgive.  If  a 
man  sin  against  his  neighbour,  and  an  oath  be  laid  upon 
him  to  cause   him  to  swear,  and  he  come  and  swear 

32  before  thine  altar  in  this  house :  then  hear  thou  in 
heaven,  and  do,  and  judge  thy  servants,  condemning  the 
wicked,  to  bring  his  way  upon  his  own  head  \  and  justi- 
fying the  righteous,  to  give  him  according  to  his  right- 

33  eousness.  When  thy  people  Israel  be  smitten  down 
before  the  enemy,  because  they  have  sinned  against  thee ; 
if  they  turn  again  to  thee,  and  confess  thy  name,  and 
pray  and  make  supplication  unto  thee  in   this  house: 

34  then  hear  thou  in  heaven,  and  forgive  the  sin  of  thy 
people  Israel,  and  bring  them  again  unto  the  land  which 

35  thou  gavest  unto  their  fathers.  When  heaven  is  shut  up, 
and  there  is  no  rain,  because  they  have  sinned  against 

30.  when  thou  hearest,  fbrsfive.  Every  answer  to  prayer 
includes  the  forgiveness  of  sins. 

viii.  31  ff.  From  this  point  the  supplication  resolves  itself  into 
an  enumeration  of  typical  cases — mostly  of  national  distress — in 
which  prayer  would  be  offered  toward  or  in  the  temple. 

31,  32.  The  case  of  a  curse  pronounced  in  the  sanctuary,  over 
a  transgressor  against  whom  no  legal  evidence  is  procurable  :  cf. 
Exod.  xxii.  7-12  ;  Num.  v.  sff.  The  Lord  is  besought  to  preside 
over  the  ordeal,  and  judsfe  his  servants,  by  giving  effect  to  the 
curse  if  the  man  be  guilty  *. 

condemning'  .  .  .  justifying":  i.e.  < declaring  guilty*  or 
*  righteous '  by  the  issue  of  the  trial, 

33,  34.  Defeat  of  Israel  in  battle,  as  a  consequence  of  apostasy 
from  Yahweh. 

and  bring  them  again  unto  the  land  seems  to  imply  the 
Exile  ;  but  this  is  inconsistent  with  pray  ...  in  this  house 
(verse  33).  Perhaps  we  should  read,  with  a  change  of  vowel 
points,  '  and  let  them  remain  in  the  land,'  i.  e.  avert  the  extreme 
penalty  of  exile  (so  Klostermann,  Benzinger). 

35,  36.    The  case  of  drought :   cf.  Deut.  xi.  T3-17.     when  {or, 

^  Many  cases  of  this  kind  are  referred  to  in  the  recently  discovered 
code  of  Hammurabi.  See  Johns,  Oldest  Code  of  Lawst  §§20,  131, 
22/1  266,  &c. 


1    KINGS  8.  .c^6-4i.     D  149 

thee;    if  they  pray  toward  this  place,  and  confess  thy 
name,  and  turn  from  their  sin,  when  thou  dost  afflict 
them  :   then  hear  thou  in  heaven,  and  forgive  the  sin  of  36 
thy   servants,    and    of    thy   people    Israel,    when    thou 
teachest  them  the  good  way  wherein  they  should  walk ; 
and  send  rain  upon  thy  land,  which  thou  hast  given  to 
thy  people  for  an  inheritance.     If  there  be  in  the  land  37 
famine,  if  there  be  pestilence,  if  there  be  blasting  or 
mildew,  locust   or  caterpiller;    if  their  enemy  besiege 
them   in  the  land  of  their  cities;    whatsoever  plague, 
whatsoever  sickness  there  be ;  what  prayer  and  supplica-  38 
tion  soever  be  made  by  any  man,  or  by  all  thy  people 
Israel,  which  shall  know  every  man  the  plague  of  his 
own   heart,   and   spread    forth   his   hands   toward    this 
house :  then  hear  thou  in  heaven  thy  dwelling  place,  and  39 
forgive,  and  do,  and  render  unto  every  man  according  to 
all  his  ways,  whose  heart  thou  knowest ;  (for  thou,  even 
thou  only,  knowest  the  hearts  of  all  the  children  of  men ;) 
that  they  may  fear  thee  all  the  days  that  they  live  in  the  40 
land  which   thou   gavest   unto  our  fathers.     Moreover  41 

*  because ')  thou  dost  afflict  them,  is  better  than  marg.  '  because 
thou  answerest  them,'  though  it  may  involve  a  slight  change  of 
pointing  ;  which,  however,  is  warranted  by  LXX  and  Vulg. 
the  good  way  .  .  .  walk.     Cf.  Jer.  vi.  16. 
viii.  37-40.  Famine,  Pestilence,  and  other  calamities. 

37.  locust  and  caterpiller  are  probably  names  of  distinct 
species  of  locusts  (Joel  i.  4  :  see  Driver's  Excursus,  Camh.  Bible, 
p.  82  ff.). 

in  the  land  of  their  cities  (marg.  'gates ').  Read,  with  LXX, 
'in  any  of  their  gates,'  a  thoroughly  Deuteronomic  expression 
(Deut.  XV.  7,  xvii.  2,  &c.). 

38.  Omit,  or  by  all  thy  people  Israel  (LXX). 

every  man  the  plagfue  of  his  own  heart:  a  peculiar  ex- 
pression, probably  =  the  stroke  that  affects  him  personally.  The 
generalized  language  of  the  verse  seems  to  show  that  the  praj'er 
is  drawing  near  its  conclusion. 

viii.  41-43,   The  Prayer  of  the  Stranger.    Cf.  Isa.  Ivi.  6,  7,    Verses 


ISO  I   KINGS  8.  42-46.     DD« 

concerning  the  stranger,  that  is  not  of  thy  people  Israel, 
when  he  shall  come  out  of  a  far  country  for  thy  name's 

42  sake ;  (for  they  shall  hear  of  thy  great  name,  and  of  thy 
mighty  hand,  and  of  thy  stretched  out  arm ;)    when  he 

43  shall  come  and  pray  toward  this  house ;  hear  thou  in 
heaven  thy  dwelling  place,  and  do  according  to  all  that 
the  stranger  calleth  to  thee  for ;  that  all  the  peoples  of 
the  earth  may  know  thy  name,  to  fear  thee,  as  doth  thy 
people  Israel,  and  that  they  may  know  that  this  house 

44  which  I  have  built  is  called  by  thy  name.  [D^]  If  thy 
people  go  out  to  battle  against  their  enemy,  by  what- 
soever way  thou  shalt  send  them,  and  they  pray  unto  the 
Lord   toward   the   city   which   thou   hast   chosen,  and 

45  toward  the  house  which  I  have  built  for  thy  name :  then 
hear  thou  in  heaven  their  prayer  and  their  supplication, 

46  and  maintain  their  cause.  If  they  sin  against  thee,  (for 
there  is  no  man  that  sinneth  not,)  and  thou  be  angry 
with  them,  and  deliver  them  to  the  enemy,  so  that  they 

41''  and  42*  are  omitted  by  the  LXX,  which  reads  :  *  that  is  not  of 
thy  people,  but  comes  and  prays.'  The  result  of  these  answers  to 
prayer  will  be  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  Yahweh's  name  to 
all  the  peoples  of  the  earth. 

43.  tkis  house  .  .  .  name.     Render  as  in  margin. 

viii.  44,  45.  Prayers  for  Success  in  War.  The  verses  seem  an 
Exilic  parallel  to  33  f.  It  is  true  that  the  situation  contemplated 
might  be  pre-Exilic  ;  but  if  it  had  belonged  to  the  original  scheme 
of  the  prayer  it  would  naturally  have  stood  alongside  of  33  ff.  ; 
the  language,  moreover,  resembles  that  of  the  next  section,  which 
is  still  more  likely  to  be  Exilic. 

44.  toward  the  city  .  .  .  house :  lit.  *  in  the  direction  of  the 
city .  .  .  and  of  the  house.'  (Cf,  verse  48.)  The  custom  of  praying 
with  the  face  turned  toward  Jerusalem  (the  Mohammedan  kiblah, 
first  borrowed  by  the  Prophet  from  the  Jews,  though  afterwards 
modified  in  favour  of  Mecca)  is  not  known  to  have  existed  before 
the  Exile  (see  Dan.  vi.  lo. 

45.  maintain  their  cause    marg.  '  right ")  :  cf.  verses  49,  59. 

viii.  46-51.    Prayers  in  Exile. 


I    KINGS  8.  47-52.     D2  151 

carry  them  away  captive  unto  the  land  of  the  enemy,  far 
off  or  near;   yet  if  they  shall  bethink  themselves  in  the  47 
land  whither  they  are  carried  captive,  and  turn  again, 
and  make  supplication  unto  thee  in  the  land  of  them 
that  carried  them  captive,  saying,  We  have  sinned,  and 
have  done  perversely,  we  have  dealt  wickedly ;   if  they  48 
return  unto  thee  with  all  their  heart  and  with  all  their 
soul  in  the  land  of  their  enemies,  which  carried  them 
captive,  and  pray  unto  thee  toward  their  land,  which  thou 
gavest  unto  their  fathers,  the  city  which  thou  hast  chosen, 
and  the  house  which  I  have  built  for  thy  name :   then  49 
hear  thou  their  prayer  and  their  supplication  in  heaven 
thy  dwelling  place,  and  maintain  their  cause ;  and  forgive  50 
thy  people  which  have  sinned  against  thee,  and  all  their 
transgressions   wherein   they  have   transgressed   against 
thee ;   and  give  them  compassion  before  those  who  car- 
ried them  captive,  that  they  may  have  compassion  on 
them :    for  they  be  thy  people,  and  thine  inheritance,  51 
which  thou  broughtest  forth  out  of  Egypt,  from  the  midst 
of  the  furnace  of  iron:    that  thine  eyes  may  be  open  52 

48.  toward  tbeir  land :  '  in  the  direction  of  their  land '  (as 
verse  44).  Kittel  quotes  a  parallel  from  the  late  Jewish  Midrash 
Sifre  71^  :  'Those  who  dwell  outside  the  land  of  Israel  turn  their 
faces  toward  the  land  of  Israel  and  pray  ;  those  who  dwell  in  the 
land  of  Israel  turn  their  faces  toward  Jerusalem.' 

50.  give  them  compassion  before  (i.  e.  *  make  them  an  object 
of  compassion  to*)  those  who  carried  them  captive.  It  is 
remarkable  that  deliverance  from  captivity  is  not  expressly 
mentioned,  and  if  contemplated  at  all,  is  looked  for  only  from  the 
generosity  of  the  conqueror.  Such  a  prayer  could  hardly  have 
originated  except  under  actual  experience  of  exile,  without  any 
prospect  of  immediate  relief. 

51.  the  furnace  of  iron  means  the  furnace  in  which  iron  is 
smelted.  The  phrase  is  found  in  Deut.  iv.  20,  Jer.  xi.  4  ;  the 
image  in  Isa.  xlviii.  to,  &c. 

viii.  52,  53.   Conclusion  of  the  Prayer. 

52  is  mutilated  at  the  beginning  :  that  thine  eyes  may  be  open 
cannot  be  construed  as  an  independent  sentence,  and  is  certainly 


tS2  I    KINGS  8.  53-56.     D^ 

unto  the  supplication  of  thy  servant,  and  unto  the  sup- 
plication of  thy  people  Israel,  to   hearken  unto  them 

53  whensoever  they  cry  unto  thee.  For  thou  didst  separate 
them  from  among  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  to  be 
thine  inheritance,  as  thou  spakest  by  the  hand  of  Moses 
thy  servant,  when  thou  broughtest  our  fathers  out  of 
Egypt,  O  Lord  God. 

54  And  it  was  so,  that  when  Solomon  had  made  an  end 
of  praying  all  this  prayer  and  supplication  unto  the  Lord, 
he  arose  from  before  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  from  kneeling 
on  his  knees  with  his  hands  spread  forth  toward  heaven. 

55  And  he  stood,  and  blessed  all  the  congregation  of  Israel 

56  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  that 
hath  given  rest  unto  his  people  Israel,  according  to  all 
that  he  promised :  there  hath  not  failed  one  word  of  all 

not  the  continuation  of  verse  51.  The  original  introduction  must 
have  been  lost.  LXX,  as  well  as  2  Chron.  vi.  40,  have  a  smoother 
text. 

53  is  omitted  by  the  chronicler,  who  substitutes  an  imperfect 
version  of  Ps.  cxxxii.  8-10. 

viii.  54-61.  The  Benediction.  The  section  is  wanting  entirely 
in  2  Chron.  ;  and  in  LXX  (as  already  explained)  is  separated 
from  the  prayer  (24-53)  t)y  the  intrusion  of  verses  12,  13  of  the 
Hebrew.  There  is  a  discrepancy  between  verse  54  and  verse  22 
(see  below),  which  seems  to  show  that  it  is  later  than  the  pre- 
Exilic  parts  of  the  prayer.  Possibly  it  was  added  along  with 
verses  44  ff.,  with  which  it  has  some  linguistic  affinities. 

54.  from  kneelingf  on  Ms  knees.  Kneeling  is  the  posture  of 
prayer  in  i  Kings  xix.  18,  Isa.  xlv.  23,  Ezra  ix.  5,  2  Chron.  vi.  13, 
Dan.  vi.  10,  Ps.  xcv.  6.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  practice 
was  peculiarly  post-Exilic.  Standing,  however,  was  a  common 
attitude  in  early  times  (Gen.  xviii.  22,  i  Sam.  i.  26)  ;  and  when 
the  author  of  verse  22  sa3'S  that  Solomon  '  stood,'  he  can  hardly 
be  supposed  to  mean  the  same  thing  as  the  writer  of  this  verse, 

56.  hath  g'iveu  rest  unto  his  people :  an  allusion  to  Deut. 
xii.  10  (see  on  v.  4).  Although  the  expression  in  Deuteronomy 
might  readily  be  taken  to  refer  to  the  conquest  of  the  land  of 
Canaan,  yet  the  connexion  in  which  it  occurs  proves  that  the 
writer  had  really  in  view  the  peace  secured  by  the  efforts  of 
David,  and  fully  enjoyed  under  the  J-eign  of  Solomon. 


I   KINGS  8.  57-63.     D^SD  153 

his  good  promise,  which  he  promised  by  the  hand  of 
Moses  his  servant.     The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us,  as  57 
he  was  with  our  fathers  :  let  him  not  leave  us,  nor  forsake 
us :  that  he  may  incline  our  hearts  unto  him,  to  walk  in  58 
all  his  ways,  and  to  keep  his  commandments,  and  his 
statutes,  and  his  judgements,  which  he  commanded  our 
fathers.      And  let  these  my  words,  wherewith   I  have  59 
made  supplication  before  the  Lord,  be  nigh  unto  the 
Lord  our  God  day  and  night,  that  he  maintain  the  cause 
of  his  servant,  and  the  cause  of  his  people  Israel,  as 
every  day  shall  require :  that  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  60 
may  know  that  the  Lord,  he  is  God ;  there  is  none  else. 
Let  your  heart  therefore  be  perfect  with  the  Lord  our  61 
God,  to  walk  in  his  statutes,  and  to  keep  his  command- 
ments,  as  at   this   day.     [S  D]  And  the  king,  and  all  62 
Israel  with  him,  offered  sacrifice  before  the  Lord.     And  63 

57,  58.  The  blessing  which  Solomon  invokes  for  the  people  is 
the  continued  presence  of  God  in  their  midst,  inclining  their  hearts 
to  keep  His  covenant,  and  so  realize  the  Deuteronomic  ideal  of 
national  righteousness. 

59,  60.  The  maintenance  of  Israel's  right  (cf.  verses  45,  49)  is 
the  manifestation  of  Yahweh's  power,  and  the  demonstration  to 
the  world  of  his  divinity.  The  idea  is  prominent  in  Ezekiel  and 
Deutero-Isaiah. 

61.  Iiet  your  heairt  ...  toe  perfect:  'undivided,'  completely 
surrendered. 

viii.  62-66.  The  Dedicatory  Sacrifices  and  Observance  of  the  Feast, 
(Cf.  2  Chron.  vii.  5-10.)  The  two  events  were  contemporaneous, 
but  are  clearly  distinguished  in  the  narrative,  the  initiatorj'^ 
sacrifices  being  described  in  verses  62-64,  and  the  celebration  of 
the  feast  in  65,  66.  Although  the  section  has  certainly  passed 
through  the  hands  of  the  compiler  of  Kings,  its  language  is  not 
wholly  Deuteronomic  ;  and  it  is  on  every  ground  probable  that 
the  kernel  of  it  comes  from  the  same  ancient  source  as  verses 

62.  offered  sacrifice.  The  word  used  is  the  generic  term  for 
bloody  sacrifices  t  the  various  kinds  are  distinguished  afterwards 
in  verses  63,  64. 


154  I    KINGS  8.  6^.     SD 

Solomon  ofilered  for  the  sacrifice  of  peace  offerings,  which 
he  offered  unto  the  Lord,  two  and  twenty  thousand 
oxen,  and  an  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  sheep.  So 
the  king  and  all  the  children  of  Israel  dedicated  the 
64  house  of  the  Lord.  The  same  day  did  the  king  hallow 
the  middle  of  the  court  that  was  before  the  house  of  the 
Lord  ;  for  there  he  offered  the  burnt  offering,  and  the 
meal  offering,  and  the  fat  of  the  peace  offerings :  because 
the  brasen  altar  that  was  before  the  Lord  was  too  little 


63.  peace  offerings :  see  on  next  verse.  The  120,000  sheep 
are  not  mentioned  in  the  LXX. 

So  the  kingf  .  .  .  dedicated.  The  Hebrew  verb  rendered 
*  dedicate  '  is  the  rare  technical  term  used  of  the  initiation  or 
formal  opening  of  (e.  g.)  a  new  house  (Deut.  xx.  5)  :  from  it  comes 
Hdnukkdh  (Ps.  xxx,  title),  the  name  of  the  late  Feast  of  Dedication, 
instituted  by  Judas  Maccabaeus  (i  Mace.  iv.  5c  ff.).  Cf.  also  the 
initiation  of  the  altar  (Num.  vii.  10 ;  2  Chron.  vii.  9)  and  the  wall 
of  Jerusalem  (Neh.  xii.  27).  The  sentence  appears  to  imply  that 
the  sacrifices  were  the  essential  act  of  the  dedication  ceremony; 
hence  they  could  hardly  have  been  left  unmentioned  in  the 
original  account. 

64  explains  how  it  was  possible  to  offer  such  an  enormous 
quantity  of  sacrifices  in  a  short  time  :  the  altar  being  too  small, 
the  king  sanctified  the  entire  area  of  the  middle  court  in  front  of 
the  house. 

did  .  .  .  hallow:  *  sanctify,'  set  apart  as  holy.  The  verse 
hardly  implies  that  the  sanctity  of  the  middle  area  was  perpetuated, 
or  that  the  writer  traces  back  to  this  temporary  emergency  a  per- 
manent arrangement  of  his  own  day  (so  Kittel). 

the  hurut-offering-  ('d/a//)  is  the  holocaust,  offered  entirely 
to  God,  and  wholly  consumed  on  the  altar  (///.  that  which  wholly 
'goes  up'  in  sacrificial  smoke). 

The  meal  offering*  {ntinhdJi)  was  originally  a  present  or 
offering  made  to  God  of  any  kind,  whether  vegetable  or  animal  ; 
but  in  post-Exilic  usage  it  became  specialized  in  the  sense  of 
cereal  oblation  :  this  is  probably  the  meaning  here.  Of  the  peace 
offerings  {sheldmhn,  the  exact  meaning  is  not  certain)  only  the 
fat  was  offered  on  the  altar,  the  other  parts  furnishing  the  material 
of  a  sacrificial  meal.  Verse  63  shows  that  (as  might  be  expected) 
the  bulk  of  the  sacrifices  offered  that  day  were  of  this  class. 

the  hrasen  altar.  It  is  certainly  surprising  that  no  mention 
of  this  important  structure  occurs  in  the  account  of  the  temple 


I    KINGS  8.  65,66.     SD  155 

to  receive  the  burnt  offering,  and  the  meal  offering,  and 
the  fat  of  the  peace  offerings.  So  Solomon  held  the  65 
feast  at  that  time,  and  all  Israel  with  him,  a  great  con- 
gregation, from  the  entering  in  of  Hamath  unto  the 
brook  of  Egypt,  before  the  Lord  our  God,  seven  days 
and  seven  days,  even  fourteen  days.     On  the  eighth  day  66 

furniture  in  ch.  vii.  Most  recent  scholars  suppose  that  the  de- 
scription of  it  has  been  struck  out  by  a  late  editor,  who  imagined 
that  the  brasen  altar  of  the  tabernacle  was  still  in  existence,  and 
that  no  other  was  needed.  The  view  of  W.  R.  Smith  has  already 
been  spoken  of  (above,  p.  126).  If  the  latter  hypothesis  is  too 
ingenious,  the  other  is  much  too  easy  (see  the  convincing  argu- 
ments of  Burney,  p.  102  f.).  The  question  does  not  greatly  con- 
cern us  here,  except  in  so  far  as  the  verse  goes  to  show  that 
whatever  the  brasen  altar  was,  its  function  was  to  receive  all 
sacrifices  offered  by  fire.  The  brasen  pillars  could  not  have  been 
used  for  that  purpose.  The  truth  may  be  that  there  was  at  first 
no  artificial  altar  in  Solomon's  temple,  the  sacrifices  being  offered 
on  the  sacred  rock  which  rises  in  the  middle  of  the  Haram  area 
(see  Appendix,  p.  441). 

65.  the  feast  is  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  ;  see  on  verse  2. 
from  the  entering-  in  of  Hamath.     Hamath  is  the  modern 

Hamd  on  the  Orontes ;  the  *  entering  in,'  or  '  approach,'  of 
Hamath  (which  is  so  frequently  given  as  the  northern  Hmit  of 
the  Holy  Land)  is  probably  the  pass  between  Hermon  and 
Lebanon,  through  which  Coele-Syria  is  entered  from  the  south 
(Buhl).  It  does  not  take  us  nearly  so  far  north  as  the  city  of 
Hamath  itself. 

the  brook  of  Egsrpt  is  the  Wadi  el-Ansh,  entering  the  sea 
nearly  fifty  miles  south-west  of  Gaza.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
verse  the  LXX  has  an  addition  so  characteristically  Deuteronomic 
in  its  view  of  the  annual  festivals  that  it  may  reasonably  be  assigned 
to  the  pre-Exilic  compiler  of  Kings  :  'before  the  Lord  our  God, 
in  the  house  which  he  had  built,  eating  and  drinking  and  re- 
joicing before  the  Lord  our  God'  (cf.  Deut.  xii.  7,  xvi.  14).  And 
the  LXX  is  certainly  to  be  followed  in  the  omission  of  the  last 
words  :  and  seven  days,  even  fourteen  days,  which  are  flatly 
contradicted  by  the  opening  of  the  next  verse.  How  they  came 
to  be  added  we  can  partly  see  from  2  Chron.  vii.  8,  9.  There  the 
duration  of  the  feast  is  given  correctly  as  seven  days  ;  but  it  is 
added  that  the  previous  seven  days  had  been  devoted  to  the 
dedication  of  the  altar  :  the  two  together  make  up  the  fourteen 
days  of  our  gloss. 

66.  On  the  eighth  day.     In  accordance  with  Deut.  xvi.  13,  15 


T56  I  KINGS  9.  I.     SD  D 

he  sent  the  people  away,  and  they  blessed  the  king,  and 
went  unto  their  tents  joyful  and  glad  of  heart  for  all  the 
goodness  that  the  Lord  had  shewed  unto  David  his 
servant,  and  to  Israel  his  people. 

[D]  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Solomon  had  finished 
the  building  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  king's 
house,  and  all  Solomon's  desire  which  he  was  pleased  to 


the  feast  lasts  seven  days,  and  on  the  eighth  the  people  are  ready 
to  depart  to  their  homes.  In  2  Chron,,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
read  that  the  eighth  day  was  occupied  with  a  '  solemn  assembly.' 
This  corresponds  with  post-Exilic  practice  (Lev.  xxiii.  36  ;  Num. 
xxviii.  25) ;  and  accordingly  the  chronicler  postpones  the  dismis- 
sal of  the  people  to  the  twenty-third  day  of  the  month,  the  feast 
having  begun  on  the  fifteenth. 

and  they  blessed  the  king" :  or,  *  bade  farewell  to  the  king.' 
But  LXX  (B)  says,  much  more  naturally,  that  the  king  blessed 
them.     So  the  joyful  and  auspicious  season  comes  to  an  end. 

ix.  1-9.  Second  Appearance  of  the  Lord  to  Solomon.  The 
answer  to  the  prayer  of  ch.  viii  comes  in  the  form  of  a  night  vision, 
like  that  which  had  been  granted  to  Solomon  at  the  beginning  ojf 
his  reign.  The  passage  is  thus  on  the  one  hand  the  immediate 
sequel  to  ch.  viii,  and  on  the  other  a  Deuteronomic  parallel  to  iii. 
5-14.  That  it  comes  from  the  hand  of  the  compiler  is  clear,  not 
only  from  its  dependence  on  ch.  viii,  but  also  from  its  style,  which 
is  if  possible  even  more  strongly  marked  by  Deuteronomic  phrase- 
ology than  viii.  14  ff.  (see  again,  Driver,  Inttvd.^,  p.  200  f.).  The 
motive  for  its  insertion  is  most  clearly  expressed  in  verses  6-9, 
which  are  written  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Exile,  and  manifestly 
for  the  purpose  of  explaining  the  great  catastrophe  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple.  These  verses,  however,  are  not  quite  of 
a  piece  with  what  precedes :  they  are  addressed  not  to  Solomon 
but  to  the  nation  at  large  ;  they  make  no  express  reference  to  the 
prayer;  and  introduce  the  specific  charge  of  polytheism,  which  is 
not  contained  in  the  more  general  warning  of  verses  4,  5.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  verses  1-5  were  written  by  the  pre-Exilic  compiler, 
while  verses  6-9  belong  to  the  second  redaction. 

1.  The  revelation  comes  to  Solomon  just  when  he  is  elated  by 
the  successful  execution  of  his  architectural  projects. 

desire :  an  uncommon  word,  paraphrased  in  2  Chron.  vii.  11 
by  *  all  that  came  into  his  heart.' 


I    KINGS  9.  2-7.     DD2  157 

do,  that  the  Lord  appeared  to  Solomon  the  second  time,  2 
as  he  had  appeared  unto  him  at  Gibeon.     And  the  Lord  3 
said  unto  him,  I  have  heard  thy  prayer  and  thy  sup- 
pHcation,   that    thou   hast   made    before    me:    I    have 
hallowed  this  house,  which  thou  hast  built,  to  put  my 
name  there  for  ever;   and  mine  eyes  and  mine  heart 
shall  be  there  perpetually.     And  as  for  thee,  if  thou  wilt  4 
walk  before  me,  as  David  thy  father  walked,  in  integrity 
of  heart,  and  in  uprightness,  to  do  according  to  all  that 
I  have  commanded  thee,  and  wilt  keep  my  statutes  and 
my  judgements ;  then  I  will  establish  the  throne  of  thy  5 
kingdom  over  Israel  for  ever;  according  as  I  promised 
to  David  thy  father,  saying,  There  shall  not  fail  thee  a 
man  upon  the  throne  of  Israel.     [D'^]  But  if  ye  shall  turn  6 
away  from  following  me,  ye  or  your  children,  and  not 
keep  my  commandments  and  my  statutes  which  I  have 
set  before  you,  but  shall  go  and  serve  other  gods,  and 
worship  them  :  then  will  I  cut  off  Israel  out  of  the  land  7 
which  I  have  given  them ;  and  this  house,  which  I  have 
hallowed  for  my  name,  will  I  cast  out  of  my  sight ;  and 

2.  as  he  had  appeared  .  .  .  Gibeon :  i.  e.  in  a  dream  by  night 
(iii.  5).  That  Gibeon  was  also  the  scene  of  this  second  vision  is 
not  to  be  inferred. 

3.  After  before  me  LXX  adds  :  *  (Behold)  I  have  done  for  thee 
according  to  all  thy  prayer.'     The  clause  is  probably  genuine. 

to  put.    Render,  *  by  putting'  my  name,  &c.  (cf.  viii.  16,  29). 

4.  5.  A  promise  of  the  establishment  of  Solomon's  kingdom,  on 
condition  of  his  fidelity  to  the  covenant :  the  answer  to  the  petition 
of  viii.  25  f.     (Cf.  ii.  4 ;  2  Sam.  vii.  13). 

6-9.  A  threat  of  the  dispersion  of  the  nation  and  overthrow  of 
the  temple.  The  abrupt  change  from  the  sing,  to  the  plur.  is  very 
remarkable  (see  above). 

shall  go  and  serve  other  g'ods.  Both  the  expression  and  the 
idea — that  the  Exile  was  a  judgement  specially  on  idolatry^ are 
very  characteristic  of  Deuteronomy. 

7.  cast  out  of  my  sight:  lit.  'send  away';  but  2  Chron. 
vii.  i'o  has  the  stronger  word  properly  rendered  *  cast  out.' 


158  I    KINGS  9.  8-10.     D"A 

Israel  shall  be  a  proverb  and  a  byword  among  all  peoples  : 

8  and  though  this  house  be  so  high,  yet  shall  every  one 
that  passeth  by  it  be  astonished,  and  shall  hiss;  and 
they  shall  say.  Why  hath  the  Lord  done  thus  unto  this 

9  land,  and  to  this  house  ?  And  they  shall  answer,  Be- 
cause they  forsook  the  Lord  their  God,  which  brought 
forth  their  fathers  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  laid  hold 
on  other  gods,  and  worshipped  them,  and  served  them  : 
therefore  hath  the  Lord  brought  all  this  evil  upon  them. 

10  [A]  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  twenty  years, 

a  bjnvord  (Jit.  'a  teethy  saying'):  very  rare;  only  Deut. 
xxviii.  37  and  Jer.  xxiv.  9. 

8.  a,nd  thougrli  this  house  be  so  higfh.  The  Hebrew  text  (of 
which  the  margin  gives  the  correct  translation)  is  quite  impossible. 
We  must  either  substitute  for  '  high  '  a  word  meaning  '  ruins  ^ ' ; 
or  (somewhat  as  2  Chron.  vii.  21)  read,  '  and  as  for  this  high 
house,  every  one,'&c.;  or  (combining  both  devices,  with  Thenius), 
•  and  this  house  which  is  high  shall  become  a  heap  of  ruins.'  The 
first  suggestion  is  best. 

S**,  9.  The  astonishment  of  the  heathen  finds  expression  in 
this  question  and  answer.  Note  the  close  resemblance  to  Deut. 
xxix.  24-29. 

ix.  10-28.     Miscellaneous  Notices,  mostly  relating  to  Solomon's 
Public  Works. 

Here  we  come  to  a  second  group  of  fragmentary  notices,  which 
(like  iv.  1-28)  have  all  the  appearance  of  being  based  on  extracts 
from  the  Annals  of  Solomon  (see  introductory  note,  p.  81  f.).  It 
is  impossible  to  tell  how  far  the  literary  form  of  the  passage 
(which  Driver  considers  to  be  less  complete  than  that  of  any  other 
portion  of  the  book)  is  due  to  the  compiler,  and  how  far  to  subse- 
quent rearrangements  of  the  text.  In  the  LXX  many  of  the 
fragments  are  placed  in  quite  different  connexions  ;  but  it  cannot 
be  said  that,  on  the  whole,  its  recension  is  at  all  superior  to  the 
Hebrew.  Burney  traces  a  single  original  document  in  verses  10, 
17,  18,  19,  15,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24^  (in  that  order).  The  connexion 
thus  obtained  is  undoubtedly  a  good  one :  after  completing  the 
temple  and  the  palace,  Solomon  built  Gezer,  Beth-horon,  &c. ;  then 
follows  an  account  of  the  forced  levy  raised  to  carry  out  these 

*  J'^  for  p^'». 


I   KINGS  9.  11,12.     A  159 

wherein  Solomon  had  built  the  two  houses,  the  house  of 
the  Lord  and  the  king's  house,  (now  Hiram  the  king  of 
Tyre  had  furnished  Solomon  with  cedar  trees  and  fir 
trees,  and  with  gold,  according  to  all  his  desire,)  that 
then  king  Solomon  gave  Hiram  twenty  cities  in  the  land 
of  Galilee.     And  Hiram  came  out  from  Tyre  to  see  the 

works  ;  and  then  the  account  of  his  maritime  enterprise  (26-28). 
The  passages  which  interrupt  this  connexion  are  not  necessarily' 
less  authentic  than  the  main  narrative ;  they  are,  at  least  in  part, 
genuine  excerpts  from  ancient  sources.  In  the  absence  of  any 
obvious  principle  ot  arrangement,  however,  we  must  here  be 
content  to  take  each  notice  by  itself,  disentangling  as  far  as 
possible  the  original  annalistic  statement  from  the  editorial  ac- 
cretions. (The  attempt  to  exhibit  the  analysis  by  marginal  letters 
has  been  renounced  as  too  cumbrous.) 

ix.  10-14.  Cession  of  Territory  to  Hiram.  The  real  nature  of 
the  transaction  is  disguised  by  the  parenthesis  in  verse  11,  which 
gives  the  impression  that  the  twenty  cities  were  handed  over  in 
payment  of  materials  supplied  for  the  royal  buildings.  But  we 
know  from  v.  11  that  this  expense  was  defrayed  by  an  annual 
tribute  of  wheat  and  oil  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  either 
that  Hiram  had  raised  his  terms  or  that  the  tribute  had  fallen  into 
arrears.  The  matter  appears  in  its  true  light  when  we  read  verse 
14  in  connexion  with  1 1^.  Solomon  is  pressed  for  want  of  ready 
money,  and  parts  with  the  twenty  towns  in  return  for  an  advance 
of  120  talents  of  gold.  In  later  times  it  seemed  incredible  that  the 
wealthy  and  prosperous  Solomon  should  have  been  reduced  to 
such  straits  ;  and  the  chronicler  simply  reverses  the  relations  of 
the  two  parties,  and  says  that  Solomon  fortified  the  cities  which 
Hiram  had  ceded  to  him  (2  Chron.  viii.  2). 

10,  11.  A  clue  to  the  analysis  of  the  section  is  furnished  by  the 
particle  '  then  '  in  the  middle  of  verse  i  r.  As  the  continuation  of 
what  precedes,  its  use  would  be  quite  anomalous ;  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  characteristically  employed  in  one  of  the  primary  docu- 
ments to  introduce  an  entirely  new  subject  (see  on  iii.  16).  We 
may  therefore  conclude  that  the  annalistic  notice  commenced  here, 
Then  king  Solomon  gave  Hiram,  and  that  the  previous  clause 
(11*)  was  inserted  to  supply  a  connexion.  The  real  continuation 
of  verse  10  is  probably  found  in  verse  17. 

in  the  land  of  Galilee :  ///.  *  the  Circuit ' ;  called  in  Isa.  ix. 
I  *  the  Circuit  of  the  nations,'  because  of  its  mixed  population 
(cf.  the  German  *  Heidenmark';  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.  p.  413). 
From  2  Kings  xv.  29 ;  Joshua  xx,  7,  xxi.  32 ;  i  Chron.  vi.  76,  it 


i6o  I    KINGS  9.  13-15.     A 

cities  which  Solomon  had  given  him  ;  and  they  pleased 

13  him  not.     And  he  said,  What  cities  are  these  which  thou 
hast  given  me,  my  brother?     And  he  called  them  the 

14  land  of  Cabul,  unto  this  day.     And  Hiram  sent  to  the 
king  sixscore  talents  of  gold. 

15  And  this  is  the  reason  of  the  levy  which  king  Solomon 

would  appear  to  have  been  originally  pretty  nearly  co-extensive 
with  the  territory  of  Naphtali  (but  see  on  verse  13  below).  Before 
N.  T.  times  the  name  had  been  extended  to  the  whole  of  the 
northern  district  of  Palestine,  north  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon. 

12,  13.  Hiram  expresses  his  discontent  with  the  transfer  ;  and 
the  circumstance  gives  rise  to  a  contemptuous  epithet  for  the  whole 
region,  which  had  survived  to  the  writer's  own  day.  The  name 
Kabul,  indeed,  has  survived  even  to  our  day  as  that  of  a  village 
nine  miles  south-east  of  Accho,  which  is  identified  with  the  Cabul 
mentioned  in  Joshua  xix.  27  as  a  frontier  town  of  Asher.  It  is 
certainly  difficult  to  dissociate  the  town  of  Cabul  from  the  land  of 
Cabul  here  referred  to ;  though  in  that  case  Galilee  must,  in  the 
time  of  the  writer,  have  included  the  tribe  of  Asher  as  well  as 
Naphtali.  But  what  popular  etymology  underlies  the  idea  of 
contempt  imported  into  the  term  cannot  be  made  out  ;  the 
statement  of  Josephus  (A>it.  viii.  142)  that  Chabolon  is  Phoenician 
for  '  not  pleasing '  deserves  no  credit. 

14.  See  introductory  note  above,  p.  159. 

A  talent  of  gold  is  estimated  as  equivalent  (not  in  purchasing 
power,  but  in  weight)  to  £6,150  sterling  (Kennedy,  in  DB,  iii. 
p.  150).  This  would  make  the  sum  raised  by  Solomon  a  little 
under  three-quarters  of  a  million  sterling ;  its  purchasing  power 
would  enormously  exceed  what  these  figures  represent  to  us. 

ix.  15-23.  The  Corvee  and  the  purposes  to  which  it  was  applied. 
Two  (or  rather,  three)  fragments  are  here  amalgamated  in  a  some- 
what perplexing  fashion,  (a)  The  account  of  the  levy,  promised 
in  15%  is  given  in  verses  20-23.  Here  verses  20-22  are  un- 
historical  and  late,  so  that  for  the  annalistic  document  there  remains 
at  most  the  isolated  verse  23,  which  must  have  been  followed  by 
a  list  of  officers,  now  lost,  (b)  Into  this  notice  about  the  levy 
has  been  dovetailed  an  enumeration  of  Solomon's  buildings 
and  fortifications  (15''- 19),  in  order  to  explain  the  necessity  for 
so  continuous  a  drain  on  the  labour  resources  of  the  population. 
(c)  In  the  middle  of  (6),  again,  verses  16,  17*  are  a  parenthesis, 
suggested  by  the  mention  of  Gezer,  but  plainly  breaking  the 
sequence.  Since  they  are  omitted  by  the  LXX  in  this  place,  and 
inserted  (along  with  iii.  i)  at  the  end  of  ch.  iv,  they  evidently 


I    KINGS  9.  15.     A  161 

raised ;  for  to  build  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  his  own 
house,  and  Millo,  and  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and  Hazor, 

formed  a  detached  notice.  In  the  LXX  the  bulk  of  the  section 
(verses  15,  17^-22)  is  transferred  to  ch.  x  ;  small  portions  are 
repeated  in  the  long  addition  under  ii.  35  ;  verse  23  is  found  only 
there.  (On  Burney's  rearrangement  of  the  passage,  see  above, 
p.  158.) 

15*.  the  reason  (better,  '  account ')  of  the  levy.    See  on  iv.  9. 

15**  introduces  the  enumeration  of  Solomon's  public  works,  of 
which  the  most  important  (next  to  the  temple  and  the  palace)  was 
doubtless  the  fortification  of  Jerusalem, 

Millo  (read  'the  Millo')  :  cf,  verse  24,  xi.  27,  2  Sam.  v.  9 
(with  pars,  in  Chron.).  These  are  all  the  passages  where  the 
structure  referred  to  is  certainly  mentioned :  2  Kings  xii.  20  (*  the 
house  of  Millo ')  is  doubtful.  We  read  also  of  a  '  house  of  Millo '  in 
Judges  ix.  6,  20.  From  its  association  with  the  wall  of  Jerusalem 
we  may  with  great  probability  infer  that  it  was  some  distinctive 
feature  of  the  defences  of  the  capital ;  but  of  its  exact  situation,  or 
the  kind  of  structure  denoted  by  the  name — whether  a  *  house,' 
a  'tower,'  or  an  'embankment' — nothing  is  known.  The  word 
is  probably  derived  from  a  verb  meaning  '  to  fill,*  and  is  most 
naturally  understood  in  the  sense  supported  by  the  Jewish  Targum, 
of  a  mound  or  earthwork.  In  xi.  27  the  Millo  appears  to  be  de- 
scribed as  '  closing  the  breach  of  the  city  of  David.'  If  it  be  the 
case  (see  Appendix,  p.  440)  that  the  city  of  David  was  cut  off  by 
a  small  ravine  from  the  temple  mount,  it  would  be  an  important 
object  to  connect  the  two  by  a  hne  of  fortifications ;  and  we  might 
conjecture  that  the  Millo  was  an  embankment  with  a  retaining  wall 
which  carried  the  fortification  across  the  ravine.  This  would  agree 
with  2  Sam.  v.  9,  which  says  that  David  '  built  round  about  from  the 
Millo  and  inward  '  ;  i.  e.  built  that  portion  of  the  later  city  which 
lay  to  the  south  of  the  Millo.  The  verse  does  not  necessarily  imply 
that  the  Millo  existed  before  Solomon. 

The  determination  of  the  course  of  the  wall  depends  on  two 
points,  neither  of  which  has  been  finally  settled  :  first,  whether  the 
western  hill  was  included  in  the  fortifications  ;  and  second,  how 
far  the  'old  wall'  described  by  Josephus  in  Bell.  Jud.  v.  146 ff. 
corresponds  with  the  wall  of  Solomon.  Until  these  questions  have 
been  securely  determined  it  will  not  be  possible  to  decide  with 
certainty  whether  the  remains  of  ancient  fortifications  recently 
discovered  on  the  south  of  the  city  go  back  to  the  time  of  Solomon. 
(See  Benzinger  in  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands,  p.  602  ff.) 

We  have  next  a  list,  continued  in  17^,  of  cities  built  (i.  e.  forti- 
fied) by  Solomon  throughout  his  dominions. 

Kazor  was  in  the  extreme  north  of  the  country,  in  Naphtali, 

M 


i62  I    KINGS  9.  16-19.     A 

16  and  Megiddo,  and  Gezer.  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt  had 
gone  up,  and  taken  Gezer,  and  burnt  it  with  fire,  and 
slain  the  Canaanites  that  dwelt  in  the  city,  and  given  it 

17  for  a  portion  unto  his  daughter,  Solomon's  wife.     And 

18  Solomon  built  Gezer,  and  Beth-horon  the  nether,  and 

19  Baalath,  and  Tamar  in  the  wilderness,  in  the  land,  and 
all  the  store  cities  that  Solomon  had,  and  the  cities  for 
his  chariots,  and  the  cities  for  his  horsemen,  and  that 
which  Solomon  desired  to  build  for  his  pleasure  in 
Jerusalem,  and  in  Lebanon,  and  in  all  the  land  of  his 


near  Kedesh  (2  Kings  xv.  29  ;  Joshua  xix.  36,  &c.) ;  the  exact  site  is 
disputed. 

Mefifiddo  :  south  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  (see  on  iv.  12). 
Oezer  (TV//  Jezer^   south-east  of  Ramleh)  occupies  a  strong 
position,  guarding  the  chief  access  to  Jerusalem  from  the  coast :  see 
G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.  p.  215  ff. 

16,  17*^.  An  historical  notice,  explaining  how  this  Canaanitish 
city  came  into  the  possession  of  Solomon.  Of  this  Egyptian  expe- 
dition to  Palestine  nothing  further  is  known  ;  it  must  surely  have 
had  political  consequences  of  a  more  far-reaching  kind  than  the 
provision  of  a  dowry  for  Solomon's  wife.  The  notice  is  valuable 
as  showing  that  the  Canaanites  had  in  isolated  communities 
preserved  their  independence  against  both  Hebrews  and  Philistines 
down  to  the  age  of  Solomon. 

17^  Beth-horon  the  nether.  The  two  Beth-horons  {Beit'Ur 
et-tahta,  and  Beit  'Urel-foka)  lie  over  a  mile  apart,  on  the  northern- 
most route  from  Jerusalem  to  Joppa,  with  a  difference  of  elevation 
of  about  500  feet:  see  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.  p.  210  «. 

18.  Baalath  (Joshua  xix.  44)  is  not  known. 

Tamar  in  the  wilderness.  2  Chron.  viii.  4  reads,  '  Tadmor 
in  the  wilderness,'  i.  e.  the  famous  Palmyra,  150  miles  north-east 
of  Damascus.  From  this  comes  the  alternative  reading  given  in 
the  margin,  which  is  supported  by  the  ancient  versions,  and  by 
the  traditional  pronunciation  of  the  synagogue  (the  so-called  A'(?r<?). 
There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  it  rests  on  a  mistake  of 
the  chronicler,  and  that  the  true  reading  is  that  of  the  Hebrew 
consonants,  'Tamar,'— the  'wilderness'  being  the  wilderness  of 
Judah.  The  locality  cannot  be  determined. 
The  words  in  the  land  must  be  corrupt. 

19.  store  cities:  see  Exod.  i.  11. 

and  in  Ziehanon^    The  LXX  omits  the  clause,  but  in  another 


I   KINGS  9.  20-2.^     A  163 

dominion.     As  for  all  the  people  that  were  left  of  the  20 
Amorites,  the  Hittites,  the  Perizzites,  the  Hivites,  and 
the  Jebusites,  which  were  not  of  the  children  of  Israel ; 
their  children  that  were  left  after  them  in  the  land,  whom  21 
the  children  of  Israel  were  not  able  utterly  to  destroy, 
of  them  did  Solomon  raise  a  levy  of  bondservants,  unto 
this  day.     But  of  the  children  of  Israel  did  Solomon  22 
make  no  bondservants :  but  they  were  the  men  of  war, 
and  his  servants,  and  his  princes,  and  his  captains,  and 
rulers  of  his  chariots  and  of  his  horsemen.     These  were  23 
the  chief  officers  that  were  over  Solomon's  work,  five 


place  (ii.  46*^)  contains  a  reference  to  the  '  opening '  of  some  kind 
of  works  in  Lebanon  by  Solomon.  Winckler  conjectures  that  iron 
mines  are  meant. 

20-22.  The  statement  that  Solomon  imposed  the  corvee  on  the 
remnant  of  the  Canaanitish  population  is  no  doubt  accurate,  but 
the  further  statement  of  verse  22  that  no  Israelites  were  impressed 
is  directly  opposed  to  v.  13,  xi.  28. 

The  phrase  tinto  this  day  shows  that  the  passage  reflects  the 
circumstances  of  a  later  time,  when  perhaps  only  aliens  were 
subject  to  forced  labour  in  the  public  service. 

21.  utterly  to  destroy  :  lit.  '  to  put  to  the  ban.' 

raise  a  levy  of  bondservants.  Render,  *  levy  for  a  labour 
gang.' 

22.  The  high  estimate  of  the  military  profession  here  expressed 
is  scarcely  in  the  spirit  of  Deuteronomy  (see  especially  Deut  xvii. 
16),  and  is  strikingly  at  variance  v*^ith  i  Sam.  viii.  11  f.,  where  the 
very  thing  which  Solomon  here  does  is  represented  as  part  of  the 
curse  of  monarchy. 

captains.  The  Hebrew  word  (s/idlish)  seems  to  mean  the 
*  third  man  '  in  a  chariot,  the  shield-bearer  (in  addition  to  the 
driver  and  the  warrior)  :  cf.  Exod.  xiv.  7.  It  is  true  that  the 
Egyptian  chariots  carried  only  two  men  ;  but  the  Asiatic  chariots 
carried  three,  and  this  custom  may  have  been  followed  by  the 
Hebrews  (see  P.  Haupt,  Beitrdge  zur  Assyriologie,  iv.  583-587). 

23  is  evidently  the  heading  of  a  lost  register  of  the  chief 
officials  of  the  labour  bureau  (cf.  iv.  2,  8). 

For  chief  officers  read  '  chiefs  of  the  officers '  :  the  number, 
550,  can  hardly  refer  to  the  heads  of  the  department,  but  only  to 
subordinate  officials.     2  Chron.  viii.  10  gives  the  number  as  250, 

M  2 


i64  I    KINGS  0.  24-26.     A 

hundred  and  fifty,  which  bare  rule  over  the  people  that 

24  wrought  in  the  work.  But  Pharaoh's  daughter  came  up 
out  of  the  city  of  David  unto  her  house  which  SoIomo?i 

25  had  built  for  her :  then  did  he  build  Millo.  And  three 
times  in  a  year  did  Solomon  offer  burnt  offerings  and 
peace  offerings  upon  the  altar  which  he  built  unto  the 
Lord,  burning  incense  therewith,  upon  the  altar  that 
was  before  the  Lord.     So  he  finished  the  house. 

36      And  king  Solomon  made  a  navy  of  ships  in  Ezion- 

LXX  (B)  as  3,600,  in  accordance  with  verse  16,  of  which  (in  spite 
of  the  confusion  in  the  figures)  this  verse  is  probably  a  variant. 

ix.  24.  Removal  of  Pharaoh^s  Daughter  to  her  new  House. 
Another  displaced  fragment,  inserted  by  the  LXX  at  the  end  of 
verse  9,  and  in  ii.  35  ^  The  curious  importance  that  seems 
attached  to  the  incident  makes  the  loss  of  the  original  connexion 
in  this  case  particularly  tantalizing. 

then :  introducing  an  entirely  independent  notice,  as  in 
verse  11  ^     For  MiUo  read  '  the  Millo.' 

ix.  25.  Solomon's  yearly  Sacrifices.  The  verse  occurs  in  the 
LXX  only  as  ii.  35  ^. 

did  .  .  .  ofTer :  *  used  to  offer.' 

the  altar  which  he  built.  This  is  the  only  reference  to  the 
building  of  an  altar  by  Solomon  ;  and  W.  R.  Smith  contends  that 
a  built  altar  must  be  an  altar  of  stone  (see  on  viii.  64). 

burninir  incense  therewith.  Here  the  text  is  hopelessly 
corrupt. 

So  he  finished  the  house  is  a  very  doubtful  rendering  of  the 
Hebrew,  though  accepted  by  most  commentators.  The  form  of 
the  verb  is  frequentative  (He  used  to  finish!)  ;  and  it  does  not 
appear  to  be  used  in  the  sense  of  finish  (rather  '  restore '). 
Possibly  it  may  express  the  effect  of  the  periodical  sacrifices  : 
something  like  'restored  the  (ceremonial)  integrity  of  the  house. 

ix.  26-28.  The  Ophir  Expeditions.  With  the  aid  of  Phoenician 
shipwrights  and  seamen,  readily  lent  by  Hiram  his  ally,  Solomon 
constructed  and  manned,  on  the  Red  Sea,  a  fleet  of  ships  destined 
for  the  long  and  adventurous  voyage  to  Ophir.  This  novel 
enterprise  was  crowned  with  complete  success  ;  and  we  learn 
from  x.  22  that  it  was  followed  up  by  a  regular  series  of  expedi- 
tions, each  of  which  occupied  three  years.  The  vessels  returned 
laden  with  many  curious  products  of  tropical  lands  ;  and  above  all 
with  a  rich  store  of  the  gold  for  which  Ophir  was  famous. 


I    KINGS  9.  27, 28.     A  165 

geber,  which  is  beside  Eloth,  on  the  shore  of  the  Red 
Sea,  in  the  land  of  Edom.     And  Hiram  sent  in  the  navy  27 
his  servants,  shipmen  that  had  knowledge  of  the  sea, 
with  the  servants  of  Solomon.     And  they  came  to  Ophir,  28 
and  fetched  from  thence  gold,  four  hundred  and  twenty 
talents,  and  brought  it  to  king  Solomon. 

26.  Eloth,  or  Elath,  the  Aelana  of  the  classical  geographers, 
the  modern  'Akdba,  is  at  the  head  of  the  north-east  arm  of  the 
Red  Sea,  which  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times  has  derived  its 
name  from  the  town  {Aelauitic  Gulf,  Gulf  of  Akaba).  A  little 
north  of  the  present  village  are  some  ruins,  which  may  be  those 
of  the  ancient  Elath.  It  is  only  mentioned  here  to  define  the 
situation  of  Ezion-geber,  which  appears  to  be  an  older  port  that 
had  been  eclipsed  by  Elath.  The  exact  site  is  unknown.  The 
conjecture  of  Robinson  (^Biblical  Researches,  i.  169  f.),  that  the  sea 
had  once  extended  further  inland,  would  furnish  at  once  an 
explanation  of  the  disappearance  of  Ezion-geber  as  a  harbour 
and  permit  of  its  identification  with  a  place  of  similar  name,  'Ain 
el-Ghudyan,  fifteen  miles  north  of  the  present  head  of  the  gulf. 

in  the  land  of  Edom.  Solomon  seems  to  have  lost  the 
suzerainty  over  Edom  at  an  early  period  of  his  reign  (ch.  xi)  ; 
but  he  must  have  kept  control  of  the  caravan  route  leading  through 
the  country  to  the  Red  Sea. 

27.  Hiram  sends  experienced  navigators  to  take  charge  of  the 
fleet.  In  2  Chron.  viii.  18  it  is  said  that  he  also  sent  his  ships  : 
the  mistake  probably  originated  in  a  misunderstanding  of  the 
expression  *  ship  of  Tarshish '  (see  on  x.  2a). 

28.  Ophir.  The  controversy  as  to  the  situation  of  the  biblical 
Ophir  seems  hardly  nearer  a  settlement  to-day  than  at  any  time 
in  the  last  three  centuries.  The  various  theories  will  be  found 
discussed  in  the  articles  of  Price  in  Hastings's  DB,  and  Cheyne  in 
EB.  The  discovery  in  1871  of  remains  of  ancient  gold-diggings 
around  Zimbabwe  in  Mashonaland  has  imparted  a  fresh  interest 
to  the  opinion  that  Ophir  is  to  be  looked  for  on  the  Sofala  coast, 
opposite  the  island  of  Madagascar.  But  the  weight  of  evidence 
appears  to  be  in  favour  of  the  theory  of  Glaser,  who  holds  that 
Ophir  was  the  coast  of  the  gold-producing  region  of  Eastern 
Arabia,  on  the  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  Starting  from  Ezion- 
geber,  the  ships  would  thus  sail  down  the  Red  Sea  and  through 
the  Straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb  ;  then  eastward  along  the  Somali 
coast  of  Africa  as  far  as  Cape  Guardafui  ;  thence  along  the  southern 
coast  of  Arabia  to  the  entrance  of  the  Persian  Gulf;  and  then  up 
the  Gulf  to  their  destination.     Glaser  has  shown  that  under  the 


i66  I   KINGS  10.  1.     S(?) 

10      [S?]  And  when  the  queen  of  Sheba  heard  of  the  fame  of 
Solomon  concerning  the  name  of  the  Lord,  she  came  to 

most  favourable  conditions,  taking  account  of  the  alternations  of 
the  south-west  and  north-east  monsoons,  the  double  voyage  could 
not  be  accomplished  in  less  than  three  years.  See  Glaser,  Skisze 
derGesch.  u.  Geog.  Arabiens,  ii.  p.  357-383. 

X.  I -13.     Visit  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba. 

The  story  of  the  queen  of  Sheba  as  here  told  is  obviously  meant 
to  illustrate  the  far-famed  wisdom  of  Solomon.  She  is  perhaps 
introduced  as  the  most  interesting  of  the  royal  personages  who 
came  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  hear  his  discourse  (iv.  34)  ; 
and  the  purpose  of  the  visit  is  expressly  said  to  have  been  *  to 
prove  him  with  hard  questions.'  We  have  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  she  was  a  real  personage,  or  that  the  visit  actually  took 
place  ;  although  it  may  be  conjectured  that  its  primary  object  was 
political  rather  than  philosophical.  A  good  understanding  with 
Solomon  was  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the  great  trading 
community  which  the  queen  represented,  and  all  the  more  if  there 
was  a  historical  connexion  between  her  mission  and  the  Ophir 
expedition  described  in  the  preceding  verses  (cf.  Glaser,  loc.  cit., 
p.  383  ff.).  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  present  form  of  the 
narrative  belongs  to  a  comparatively  late  time,  when  the  original 
significance  of  the  event  was  forgotten,  and  only  the  memory  of 
it  retained  as  an  exhibition  of  Solomon's  wisdom  and  magnificence. 
The  story  naturally  impressed  the  imagination  of  the  later  Arabs, 
and  was  worked  up  into  a  great  variety  of  legendary  and  fantastic 
anecdotes,  which  it  is  needless  to  say  contribute  nothing  to  our 
understanding  of  the  incident. 

1.  Sheba  was  known  to  Strabo  and  Pliny  as  the  seat  of  a  great 
commercial  empire  in  the  south-west  of  Arabia,  having  its  capital 
at  Mariaba  (Jlfarib),  six  days'  journey  east  of  the  modern  Sanaa. 
Its  civilization  and  political  importance  are  attested  by  the 
imposing  ruins  of  Marib  (see  Hommel,  in  Explorations  in  Bible 
Lands,  pp.  697,  705),  as  well  as  by  numerous  contemporary 
inscriptions  and  monuments.  About  the  seventh  century  b.  c. 
it  seems  to  have  overthrown  an  older  Minaean  kingdom,  and 
stepped  into  its  place  as  the  leading  people  of  Arabia.  (Cf.  Jer. 
vi.  ao  ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  22  ff,,  xxxviii.  13  ;  Isa.  Ix.  6  ;  Ps.  Ixxii.  15:  and 
seeWinckler,A'^rSp.  148  ff.;  Hommel,  loc.  cit.,  728  ff.).  Of  the 
earlier  history  of  Sheba,  or  its  position  in  the  days  of  Solomon, 
nothing  is  certainly  known  ;  nor  have  queens  so  far  been  dis- 
covered among  the  names  of  its  rulers  (Winckler,  p.  150). 

concerningf  the  name  of  the  IiOSD  :  a  difficult  expression. 
The  best  suggestion  (though  unsupported  by  external  authority^  is 


I   KINGS  10.  3-7.     S(?)  167 

prove  him  with  hard  questions.     And  she  came  to  Je-  2 
rusalem  with  a  very  great  train,  with  camels  that  bare 
spices,  and  very  much  gold,  and  precious  stones :   and 
when  she  was  come  to  Solomon,  she  communed  with 
him  of  all  that  was  in  her  heart.     And  Solomon  told  her  3 
all  her  questions  :  there  was  not  any  thing  hid  from  the 
king  which  he  told  her  not.     And  when  the  queen  of  4 
Sheba  had  seen  all  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  and  the 
house  that  he  had  built,  and  the  meat  of  his  table,  and  5 
the  sitting  of  his  servants,  and  the  attendance  of  his 
ministers,  and  their  apparel,  and  his  cupbearers,  and  his 
ascent  by  which  he  went  up  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord  ; 
there  was  no  more  spirit  in  her.     And  she  said  to  the  6 
king,  It  was  a  true  report  that  I  heard  in  mine  own  land 
of  thine  acts,  and  of  thy  wisdom.     Howbeit  I  believed  7 
not  the  words,  until  I  came,  and  mine  eyes  had  seen  it : 


that  of  Klostermann,  who  supplements  the  text  and  reads  :  *  [and 
the  fame  of  the  house  which  he  had  built]  to  the  name  of  Yahweh.' 
with  hard  questions :  strictly,  'with  riddles' ;  of.  Judgesxiv.  12. 
So  the  Tyrian  legend  represents  the  intercourse  between  Solomon 
and  Hiram  as  initiated  by  a  similar  display  of  wit  (see  on  v.  i). 

2.  spices  (or  '  balsams'),  and  very  much  ffold,  and  precious 
stones  :  all  native  products  of  south-west  Arabia. 

all  that  was  in  her  heart :  i.  e.  all  the  riddles  she  had  been 
able  to  invent,  or  all  the  problems  that  perplexed  her. 

4,  5.  Having  proved  the  reality  of  Solomon's  wisdom,  the 
queen  is  now  lost  in  admiration  of  the  luxury  and  splendour 
which  are  its  outward  reflection.  Verse  5  is  apparently  the 
description  of  a  state-banquet. 

the  sitting"  of  his  servants  may  mean  their  places  at  table  ; 
and  the  attendance  of  his  ministers  (rather,  '  waiters ')  the 
alert  attitude  of  his  personal  attendants. 

his  ascent.  Read,  with  marg. ,  '  his  burnt-offering  . . .  offered.' 

there  was  no  more  spirit  in  her.  In  O.  T.  psychology  the 
word  n'lah  (spirit)  sometimes  denotes  the  more  intense  manifesta- 
tions of  mental  activity :  when  these  are  suspended  the  riia/i  is 
said  to  depart  (cf.  i  Sam.  xxx.  12,  &c.),  although  the  life-principle 
(nephesh)  remains.  The  idea  is  that  she  was  quite  out  of  herself 
with  amazement  (so  LXX). 


i68  I    KINGS  10.  8-13.     S(?)AS(?) 

and,  behold,  the  half  was  not  told  me :  thy  wisdom  and 

8  prosperity  exceedeth  the  fame  which  I  heard.  Happy 
are  thy  men,  happy  are  these  thy  servants,  which  stand 
continually   before   thee,   and   that    hear    thy   wisdom. 

9  Blessed  be  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  delighted  in  thee, 
to  set  thee  on  the  throne  of  Israel :  because  the  Lord 
loved  Israel  for  ever,  therefore  made  he  thee  king,  to  do 

10  judgement  and  justice.  And  she  gave  the  king  an 
hundred  and  twenty  talents  of  gold,  and  of  spices  very 
great  store,  and  precious  stones :  there  came  no  more 
such  abundance  of  spices  as  these  which  the  queen  of 

11  Sheba  gave  to  king  Solomon,  [A]  And  the  navy  also  of 
Hiram,  that  brought  gold  from  Ophir,  brought  in  from 
Ophir  great  plenty  of  almug  trees  and  precious  stones. 

12  And  the  king  made  of  the  ahnug  trees  pillars  for  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  and  for  the  king's  house,  harps  also 
and  psalteries  for  the  singers  :  there  came  no  such  almug 

13  trees,  nor  were  seen,  unto  this  day.  [S?]  And  king 
Solomon  gave  to   the  queen   of  Sheba  all  her  desire, 

8.  thy  men  :  LXX,  &c.,  read  more  appropriately,  *  thy  wives.' 

11,  12  are  obviously  an  interpolation  (perhaps  a  continuation 
of  ix.  28)  suggested  by  the  last  clause  of  verse  10,  calling  attention 
to  the  fact  that  Solomon  had  other  means  of  supplying  himself 
with  the  costly  products  of  Arabia. 

almusr  trees :  better  *  almug  wood  '  :  mentioned  only  here, 
and  (in  the  form  'algum')  in  2  Chron.  ii.  8.  ix.  10,  11.  It  has 
commonly  been  identified  with  the  fragrant  red  sandal  wood,  but 
on  somewhat  uncertain  grounds.  Glaser  contends  that  the  Styrax 
shrub  must  be  meant  (loc,  cit.,  p.  358  flf.)  ;  while  Cheyne  finds  a 
philological  equivalent  in  the  Babylonian  elamakkti,  a  tree  used  by 
Sennacherib  in  building  his  palaces  {Expository  Times,  ix.  470 ff.). 

12.  The  word  rendered  pillftrs  is  an  obscure  technical  term, 
of  which  no  satisfactory  explanation  has  been  given.  2  Chron. 
ix.  II  reads  differently  (R.  V.  *  terraces'). 

harps  also  and  psalteries.     On  these  musical  instruments, 
see  the  Appendix  to  Wellhausen's  translation  of  the   Psalms, 
PolychroMic  Bible,  p.  222  ff. 
13  concludes  the  narrative. 


I    KINGS  10.  14-16.     S(?)A  169 

whatsoever  she  asked,  beside  that  which  Solomon  gave 
her  of  his  royal  bounty.  So  she  turned,  and  went  to  her 
own  land,  she  and  her  servants. 

[A]  Now  the  weight  of  gold  that  came  to  Solomon  in  14 
one  year  was  six  hundred  threescore  and  six  talents  of 
gold,  beside  that  which  the  chapmen  brought,  and  the  15 
traffic  of  the  merchants,  and  of  all  the  kings   of  the 
mingled  people,  and  of  the  governors  of  the  country. 
And  king  Solomon  made  two  hundred  targets  of  beaten  16 

beside  that  which  . .  .  honnty.  The  margin  shows  that  there 
is  some  irregularity  in  the  text,  due  perhaps  to  the  intrusion  of 
a  gloss.  The  general  sense,  however,  is  correctly  expressed 
by  R.  V. 

X.  14-29.     Futiher  Notices  of  Solomon^ s  Wealth  and  Grandeur. 

See  the  note  on  ix.  15-28  above.  The  present  section  resumes 
the  annalistic  account  of  Solomon's  affairs,  which  is  interrupted 
by  the  episode  of  the  queen  of  Sheba. 

x.  14,  15.  Solomon's  Revenue.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  ix.  13,  14.)  The 
income  of  a  single  year  is  stated  at  the  almost  incredible  figure 
of  666  talents  of  gold  (about  ;^4, 100,000  in  weight),  exclusive  of 
certain  tolls  and  other  obscurely  indicated  sources  of  revenue. 
The  revenue  must  have  fluctuated  greatly  from  year  to  year ;  and 
the  figures  of  verse  14  may  be  supposed  to  be  taken  from  the 
inflated  budget  of  some  abnormally  prosperous  year. 

15.  beside  that  which  the  chapmen  brought.  The  sense  is 
hopelessly  obscure.  The  chief  difficulty  lies  in  the  word  rendered 
'chapmen'  (^Mnm  =  spies?),  of  which  no  acceptable  explanation 
has  been  suggested.  The  LXX  reads,  *  besides  the  tribute  of  the 
subjects,'  intelligible  enough  in  itself,  but  throwing  little  light  on 
the  Hebrew.  Leaving  the  word  tiirmi  untranslated,  we  might 
construe  as  follows:  'besides  what  came  in  from  the  .  .  .  and 
from  the  commerce  of  the  merchants  and  all  the  kings,'  &c.  (so 
virtually  Kittel).  There  is  plainly  an  allusion  to  a  tariff  levied  on 
the  commerce  carried  on  within  Solomon's  sphere  of  influence. 

of  the  mingled  people.  Read,  as  in  2  Chron.  ix.  14,  '■  of 
Arabia.' 

governors,  satraps,  is  an  Assyrian  loan-word,  rarely  (if 
ever)  used  by  pre-Exilic  writers  (see  xx.  24,  2  Kings  xviii.  24). 
The  verse  may  therefore  be  of  late  origin. 

X.  16,17.     The  Shields  of  Gold.      (Cf.  2  Chron.   ix.   15,16.) 


lyo  I    KINGS  10.  17-20.     A 

gold :   six  hundred  shekels  of  gold  went  to  one  target. 

1 7  And  lu  made  three  hundred  shields  of  beaten  gold ; 
three  pound  of  gold  went  to  one  shield  :  and  the  king 

1 8  put  them  in  the  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon.  More- 
over the  king  made  a  great  throne  of  ivory,  and  overlaid 

19  it  with  the  finest  gold.  There  were  six  steps  to  the 
throne,  and  the  top  of  the  throne  was  round  behind : 
and  there  were  stays  on  either  side  by  the  place  of  the 

20  seat,  and  two  lions  standing  beside  the  stays.    And  twelve 

200  large  and  300  small  shields  are  made  of  beaten  gold,  and 
placed  in  the  house  of  the  Forest  of  Lebanon.  From  xiv.  26-28 
we  learn  that  these  costly  weapons  were  borne  by  the  royal 
body-guard  on  ceremonial  occasions,  as  when  the  king  visited  the 
temple. 

16.  targ'ets  (Heb.  zinndh),  i.  e.  large  oblong  shields,  pro- 
tecting the  whole  body  of  the  warrior,  like  the  Roman  scntiini. 
The  weight  of  gold  on  each  shield  is  about  20  lb. 

\*7.  shields.  The  word  here  used  ^mdgm)  denotes  the  small 
round  shield,  the  clipcns  of  the  Romans.  The  pound  {nianeh)  was 
equal  to  either  sixty  or  (more  probably)  fifty  shekels  ;  hence  the 
gold  in  each  small  shield  was  about  one-fourth  of  that  in  the 
larger. 

X.   18-20.      The  Ivory  Throne.     (Cf.  2  Chron.  ix.  I7-I9.^ 

18.  A  throne  of  ivory  does  not  mean  one  made  entirely  of 
ivory,  any  more  than  an  ivory  palace  (xxii.  39,  Amos  iii.  15, 
Ps.  xlv.  8)  is  a  house  built  of  that  material.  Nor  need  we  suppose 
that  the  costly  ivory  was  completely  covered  by  the  gold.  What 
is  meant  is  no  doubt  a  piece  of  furniture  of  which  some  parts  were 
veneered  with  ivory  and  other  parts  plated  with  gold, 

the  finest  g'old.  Some  ancient  versions  read :  *  gold  from 
Ophir.'  The  doubtful  word  occurs  nowhere  else  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  17 
substitutes  the  ordinary  word  for  '  pure.' 

19.  the  top  of  the  throne . . . :  better,  '  the  throne  had  a  rounded 
top  behind.*  The  text  has  had  a  curious  and  instructive  history. 
The  LXX  read  'dgdl  (round)  as  'cgel  (calf),  and  rendered  'calves' 
heads '  (which,  by  the  way,  is  accepted  as  the  true  reading  by  the 
majority  of  commentators).  Then  another  scribe  took  offence  at 
'egel  because  it  reminded  him  of  Jeroboam's  golden  calves,  and 
substituted  'lambs'  {kebes).  Ultimately  kehes  was  changed  to 
kebesh  (=  footstool),  as  we  have  it  in  2  Chron.  ix.  18,  along  with 
other  modifications  demanded  by  the  new  sense. 

Stays:  ///.  '  hands'  (as  marg.)  ;  i.  e.  supports  for  the  arms. 


I    KINGS  10.  21-2^.     AZ  171 

lions  stood  there  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other  upon 
the  six  steps :  there  was  not  the  like  made  in  any  kingdom. 
[Z]  And  all  king  Solomon's  drinking  vessels  were  of  gold,  21 
and  all  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon 
were  of  pure  gold :  none  were  of  silver ;  it  was  nothing 
accounted  of  in  the  days  of  Solomon.     For  the  king  had  22 
at  sea  a  navy  of  Tarshish  with  the  navy  of  Hiram :  once 
every  three  years  came  the  navy  of  Tarshish,  bringing 
gold,  and   silver,   ivory,  and   apes,   and   peacocks.     So  23 
king  Solomon  exceeded  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  in 
riches  and  in  wisdom.     And  all  the  earth  sought  the  24 


20.  there  is  better  omitted,  as  in  the  LXX. 

X.  21,  22.  Depreciation  of  Silver  caused  by  Solomon^ s  commercial 
ventures.     (Cf.  2  Chron.  ix.  20,  21.) 

22.  a  navy  of  Tarshish  :  i.  e.  a  fleet  of  large  sea-going  vessels, 
such  as  the  Phoenicians  employed  for  the  voyage  to  Tarshish 
(Tartessus)  on  the  Guadalquivir  in  Spain.  Such  ships  were  the 
^  East  Indiamen '  of  the  ancient  world.  Although  Ophir  is  not 
here  mentioned  as  the  destination  of  the  ships,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  reference  is  to  the  expedition  described  in  ix.  26-28  ; 
cf.  xxii.  48.  The  expression  was  misunderstood  by  the  chronicler, 
who  not  unnaturally  thought  that  the  fleet  actually  sailed  to 
Tarshish. 

once  every  three  years.     See  on  ix.  28. 

ivory :  Heb.  shenhahhhn ;  LXX,  '  elephants'  tusks '  (in 
2  Chron.  ix.  21).  The  common  word  for  ivory  is  simply  shen 
( =  tooth)  ;  hence  it  has  been  conjectured,  but  without  much 
plausibility,  that  hahbhn  is  a  foreign  name  for  elephants. 

apes,  and  peacocks.  The  names  {kophhn  and  tukkiyymi)  are 
supposed  to  be  of  Indian  origin  ;  and  the  peacocks,  at  all  events, 
could  only  have  come  from  that  country.  Winckler,  however, 
{KAT^,  p.  238)  proposes  to  read  sukkiyyim  (=  negroes,  as 
2  Chron.  xii.  3);  in  which  case  the  'ivory,  apes  and  negroes' 
might  all  be  native  African  products,  which  the  ships  could  have 
picked  up  while  waiting  for  a  favourable  wind  off  the  Somali 
coast.  The  text  was  too  difficult  for  the  LXX  translators,  who 
render  'stones  wrought  and  hewn.' 

X.  23-25.  Solomon  the  foremost  Monarch  of  his  time.  (Cf. 
2  Chron.  ix.  22-24.)  The  idealization  of  Solomon's  power  and 
splendour  here  reaches  its  acme.     Not  only  does  he  excel  all  the 


172  I    KINGS  10.25-28.     ZXZA 

presence  of  Solonx)n,  to  hear  his  wisdom,  which  God 

25  had  put  in  his  heart.  And  they  brought  every  man  his 
present,  vessels  of  silver,  and  vessels  of  gold,  and  raiment, 
and  armour,  and  spices,  horses,  and  mules,  a  rate  year 

26  by  year.  [A]  And  Solomon  gathered  together  chariots 
and  horsemen  :  and  he  had  a  thousand  and  four  hun- 
dred chariots,  and  twelve  thousand  horsemen,  which  he 
bestowed  in   the  chariot  cities,  and  with   the  king  at 

27  Jerusalem.  [Z]  And  the  king  made  silver  to  be  in 
Jerusalem  as  stones,  and  cedars  made  he  to  be  as  the 
sycomore  trees  that  are  in  the  lowland,  for  abundance. 

28  [A]  And  the  horses  which  Solomon  had  were  brought 

kings  of  the  earth  in  wisdom,  and  wealth,  and  pomp  ;  but  they 
all  acknowledge  his  superiority,  and  pay  him  homage  with  rich 
presents  year  by  year.  There  is  something  almost  Messianic  in 
this  conception  of  a  king  of  Israel  ruling  the  whole  world,  not  by 
force  of  arms,  but  by  the  spell  of  his  personality  and  the  glamour 
of  a  success  which  marks  him  out  as  the  favourite  of  heaven. 
The  description  must  be  of  late  date  ;  but  it  is  very  instructive  as 
showing  the  manner  in  which  the  national  consciousness  was 
influenced  and  uplifted  by  the  Solomonic  tradition. 

X.  36-29.  Solomon'' s  Horses  and  Chanots.  (Cf.  a  Chron.  i.  14-17, 
ix.  25-28.)  This  concluding  notice  rests  on  authentic  data,  although 
the  original  connexion  has  been  disturbed  by  the  insertion  of 
verse  27.  It  gives  an  account,  first  of  the  horses  and  chariots 
provided  by  Solomon  for  his  own  use,  then  of  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  procured,  and  lastly  of  the  foreign  trade  in  these  articles 
which  sprang  up,  and  was  managed  by  Solomon's  agents.  There 
is  an  evident  allusion  to  this  passage  in  Deut.  xvii.  16,  where  the 
king  of  Israel  is  warned  not  to  go  back  to  Egypt  for  the  purpose 
of  multiplying  horses. 

26.  The  text  has  been  very  freely  handled  in  the  course  of  trans- 
mission, as  is  seen  from  a  comparison  with  iv.  26,  the  two  parallels 
in  2  Chronicles,  and  the  LXX  version  of  the  various  passages. 
Lucian's  LXX  goes  so  far  as  to  make  the  verse  say  that  Solomon 
kept  forty  thousand  mares  for  breeding  (similarly  LXX  (B) 
in  ii.  46'). 

27.  in  the  lowland:  'in  the  Shephelah';  see  G.  A.  Smith, 
Hist.  Geog.  p.  201  ff. 

28.  Read,  '  Now  the   export  of  Solomon's  horses  was  from 


I    KINGS  10.  29—11.  I.     AD  173 

out  of  Egypt ;  and  the  king's  merchants  received  them 
in  droves,  each  drove  at  a  price.  And  a  chariot  came  29 
up  and  went  out  of  Egypt  for  six  hundred  shekels  of 
silver,  and  an  horse  for  an  hundred  and  fifty :  and  so  for 
all  the  kings  of  the  Hittites,  and  for  the  kings  of  Syria, 
did  they  bring  them  out  by  their  means. 

[D]  Now  king  Solomon  loved  many  strange  women,  11 

Muzri  and  from  Ku6 ;  the  king's  dealers  brought  them  from  Kue 
for  cash.*  The  hnportant  emendation — 'from  Muzri  and  from 
Kue ' — is  mainly  due  to  the  investigation  of  Winckler  (see  KAT^, 
p.  238)  ;  although  the  reading  'from  Kue'  is  supported  by  the 
Vulgate  {de  Coa)  and  other  authorities,  and  had  been  anticipated 
by  Lenormant.  The  countries  named  are  now  identified  by 
Winckler  with  Cappadocia  and  Cilicia  respectively,  lying  north 
and  south  of  the  Taurus  range  between  Asia  Minor  and  Syria. 
From  this  region  the  Persians  of  a  later  time  are  said  to  have 
obtained  their  horses;  and  the  neighbouring  Togarmah  is  the 
only  horse-breeding  district  mentioned  by  Ezekiel  (xxvii.  14)  in 
his  elaborate  survey  of  the  commerce  of  Tyre.  The  name  Muzri 
was  easily  confounded  with  Mizratm  (  =  Egypt).  From  Egypt, 
on  the  contrary,  there  seems  never  to  have  been  any  considerable 
export  of  horses. 

29.  EiTTpt.  Read,  as  before,  Muzri.  The  prices  are  given 
differently  by  the  LXX :  viz.  a  chariot  one  hundred  shekels  and 
a  horse  fifty  shekels.  The  silver  shekel  weighed  a  little  more  than 
half  a  crown  of  our  money ;  but  it  must  again  be  borne  in  mind 
that  this  conveys  absolutely  no  idea  of  its  purchasing  price. 

did  they  brinflr  them  ont.  Render,  vdth  LXX,  *  were  they 
exported.'  The  meaning  would  seem  to  be  that  Solomon  bought 
at  the  same  rate  as  the  kings  of  the  Hittites  and  of  Syria.  But  for 
the  expression  by  their  means,  which  seems  to  refer  to  Solomon's 
dealers,  we  should  hardly  gather  chat  this  foreign  trade  passed 
through  Hebrew  hands. 

xi.   The  Troubles  of  Solomon* s  Reign. 

The  chapter  consists  of  two  parts  :  (i)  a  recital  of  Solomon's 
religious  delinquencies,  followed  by  a  threat  of  Divine  judgement, 
verses  1-13  ;  and  (2)  a  record  of  the  political  troubles  which 
clouded  the  prosperity  of  his  reign,  and  were  ominous  of  greater 
disasters  in  the  future,  verses  14-40.  At  first  sight  it  might  appear 
as  if  these  two  were  related  as  cause  and  effect,  or  as  sin  and 
penalty  ;  but  a  closer  examination  shows  that  this  is  neither  true 


174  I    KINGS   11.  r.     D 

together  with  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh,  women  of  the 

in  fact  nor  directly  asserted  by  the  compiler  of  the  book.  For  it 
is  expressly  said  on  the  one  hand  that  Solomon's  apostasy  took 
place  in  his  old  age  (verse  4),  and,  on  the  other,  that  the  evils 
described  in  verses  14  if.  affected  the  whole  of  his  reign  (see 
verses  21  f.,  25,  27).  It  is  therefore  incredible  that  the  latter 
should  be  represented  as  the  consequence  of  the  former.  More- 
over, the  compiler  limits  the  punishment  on  Solomon's  sin  to  the 
disruption  of  the  kingdom  (verse  11),  which  was  an  event  still 
future,  although  no  doubt  the  quarrel  with  Jeroboam  was  a  provi- 
dential preparation  for  it.  Further  light  is  thrown  on  the  matter 
when  we  observe  that  the  bulk  of  verses  14  ff.  is  taken  from 
ancient  historical  sources  ;  while  verses  1-13  are  almost  wholly 
Deuteronomic.  The  matter  thus  resolves  itself  into  a  question 
of  literary  arrangement.  The  compiler  is  responsible  for  the 
p/anwhich  leads  him  to  select  from  his  sources  the  bright  features 
of  Solomon's  reign  and  put  these  in  the  foreground,  and  then  to 
crowd  all  the  darker  features  into  a  few  pages  at  the  close.  But 
he  is  not  to  be  charged  with  the  absurdity  of  presenting  these 
disasters  as  the  punishment  of  an  offence  not  yet  committed. 

xi.  1-13.  Solomon's  Polygamy  and  Apostasy.  In  his  old  age 
Solomon  allows  his  heart  to  be  turned  aside  to  idolatry  by  his  too 
numerous  foreign  wives,  whose  impure  cults  he  fosters  by  erecting 
sanctuaries  to  their  deities  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem. 
The  Lord  then  speaks  to  him,  and  announces  the  dismemberment 
of  the  kingdom  after  his  death,  as  the  consequence  of  his  unfaith- 
fulness. Such  is  the  argument  of  the  section  in  its  present  form, 
which,  as  has  been  said,  it  owes  to  the  Deuteronomic  compiler. 
It  is  possible,  with  the  help  of  the  LXX,  to  recognize  some  traces 
of  the  original  account,  which  briefly  recorded  the  polygamy  of 
Solomon  and  the  erection  of  heathen  shrines  as  historical  facts, 
but  without  the  comment  of  censure  by  which  they  are  now 
accompanied.  To  this  earlier  document  we  may  perhaps  assign 
verses  i  *  and  7  ;  but  to  reconstruct  it  as  a  consecutive  narrative 
is  an  utterly  hopeless  undertaking. 

1.  The  LXX  opens  more  forcibly  :  '  Now  Solomon  was  fond 
of  women.  And  he  had  seven  hundred  princesses,  and  three 
hundred  concubines.  And  he  took  foreign  wives,'  &c.  Of  these 
sentences,  the  second  appears  to  be  a  gloss  which  has  crept  into 
the  text  in  different  places  in  the  LXX  and  the  Hebrew.  The 
list  of  foreign  nations  which  follows  is  given  somewhat  differently 
in  the  LXX. 

together  with  .  .  .  Pharaoh :  referring  back  to  iii.  i  ;  the 
words  are,  however,  quite  possibly  an  interpolation,  since  the 
connexion  is  peculiar  in  form. 


I    KINGS   11.  2-7.     D  175 

Moabites,  Ammonites,  Edomites,  Zidonians,  and  Hittites; 
of  the  nations  concerning  which  the  Lord  said  unto  the  2 
children  of  Israel,  Ye  shall  not  go  among  them,  neither 
shall  they  come  among  you :   for  surely  they  will  turn 
away  your  heart  after  their  gods :   Solomon  clave  unto 
these  in  love.     And  he  had  seven  hundred  wives,  prin-  3 
cesses,  and  three  hundred  concubines :   and  his  wives 
turned  away   his   heart.     For   it   came  to  pass,   when  4 
Solomon  was  old,  that  his  wives  turned  away  his  heart 
after  other  gods :  and  his  heart  was  not  perfect  with  the 
Lord  his  God,  as  was  the  heart  of  David  his  father. 
For  Solomon  went  after  Ashtoreth  the  goddess  of  the  5 
Zidonians,  and   after  Milcom   the  abomination  of  the 
Ammonites.     And  Solomon  did  that  which  was  evil  in  6 
the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  went  not  fully  after  the  Lord, 
as  did  David  his  father.     Then  did  Solomon  build  an  7 
high  place  for  Chemosh  the  abomination  of  Moab,  in 
the  mount  that  is  before  Jerusalem,  and  for  Molech  the 


2.  come  amongr  you :  i.  e.  have  intercourse  with  you ;  cf. 
Joshua  xxiii.  7  ff! 

4.  perfect  with :  cf.  viii.  61,  xv.  3,  14. 

5.  Ashtoreth,  or  Astarte,  perhaps  the  most  widely  worshipped 
of  the  Semitic  deities,  and  the  original  of  the  Greek  Aphrodite, 
appears  in  many  characters  and  in  both  sexes.  As  Istar  among 
the  Babylonians,  and  particularly  the  Assyrians,  she  appears  very 
prominently  as  a  war-goddess  ;  but  among  the  Phoenicians  and 
Canaanites  she  was  the  female  consort  of  Baal,  and  the  goddess  of 
fertility  and  sexual  love.  See  Driver,  in  DB,  i.  p.  167  ff.  Why 
she  is  called  here  specially  the  goddess  of  the  Sidouiaus  is  not 
quite  clear. 

Milcom.     See  on  verse  7. 

abomination:  cf.  Deut.  xxvii.  15,  xxix.  17. 

6.  went  not  folly  after :  as  Num.  xiv.  24,  xxxii.  12  ;  Deut.  i.  36. 
*I.  Then.     See  on  iii.  16.     The  idiom  seems  to  indicate  that  the 

verse  (apart  from  glosses),  belongs  to  the  primary  source,  though 
the  word  abomination  has  been  substituted  for  tlie  neutral  '  god,' 
which  was  read  by  the  LXX. 

Chemosh  and  SSolech:    the  national  gods  of  the  Moabites 


176  I    KINGS  11.  8-13.     D 

8  abomination  of  the  children  of  Ammon.  And  so  did 
he  for  all  his  strange  wives,  which  burnt  incense  and 
sacrificed  unto  their  gods. 

9  And  the  Lord  was  angry  with  Solomon,  because  his 
heart  was  turned  away  from  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 

10  which  had  appeared  unto  him  twice,  and  had  commanded 
him  concerning  this  thing,  that  he  should  not  go  after 
other  gods :  but  he  kept  not  that  which  the  Lord  com- 

11  manded.  Wherefore  the  Lord  said  unto  Solomon, 
Forasmuch  as  this  is  done  of  thee,  and  thou  hast  not 
kept  my  covenant  and  my  statutes,  which  I  have  com- 
manded thee,  I  will  surely  rend  the  kingdom  from  thee, 

12  and  will  give  it  to  thy  servant.  Notwithstanding  in  thy 
days  I  will  not  do  it,  for  David  thy  father's  sake :    but 

13  I  will  rend  it  out  of  the  hand  of  thy  son.  Howbeit  I 
will  not  rend  away  all  the  kingdom ;  but  I  will  give  one 
tribe  to  thy  son,  for  David  my  servant's  sake,  and  for 
Jerusalem's  sake  which  I  have  chosen. 


and  Ammonites  respectively.  The  former  is  named  in  that 
capacity  on  the  Moabite  Stone;  the  latter  word  means  'king,' 
and  should  be  pronounced  Melek  or  Milk,  of  which  Milcom  (verse  5) 
is  a  by  form. 

the  mount  is  the  Mount  of  Olives  ;  and  before  means  *  on 
the  east  side  of.'  This  clause,  however,  is  wanting  in  the  LXX, 
and  was  probably  added  by  a  later  hand. 

8.  wMch  burned  incense.  Read,  with  LXX  (L),  '  burning 
and  sacrificing  to  their  gods '  :  the  subject  of  the  verbs  is  Solomon 
himself. 

9.  was  ang-ry:  as  Deut.  i.  37,  iv.  21,  ix.  8,  20. 

appeared  .  .  .  twice:  iii.  5-15  and  ix.  1-9.  But  only  on 
the  second  occasion  was  the  warning  against  idolatry  given, 
and  then  not  addressed  to  Solomon  personally,  but  to  Israel 
generally. 

12.  In  the  O.  T.  the  postponement  of  a  calamity  is  always 
regarded  as  an  exercise  of  clemency  on  the  part  of  God  :  see 
xxi.  29. 

13.  one  tribe.     See  on  verse  33. 


I    KINGS  11.  14,15.     S  177 

[S]   And    the   Lord    raised    up  an   adversary   unto  14 
Solomon,  Hadad  the  Edomite  :  he  was  of  the  king's  seed 
in  Edom.     For  it  came  to  pass,  when  David  was  in  15 
Edom,  and  Joab  the  captain  of  the  host  was  gone  up  to 
bury  the  slain,  and  had  smitten  every  male  in  Edom ; 

xi.  14-22  (  +  25'').  The  Adventures  of  Hadad  the  Edomite.  An 
examination  of  this  passage  by  Winckler  {Alttest.  Unters.,  pp.  1-15) 
has  made  it  highly  probable  that  two  ancient  and  independent 
narratives  are  here  interwoven,  (a)  In  one  account  Hadad  is 
a  member  of  the  royal  family  of  Edom,  who  when  a  little  child 
was  saved  from  a  great  massacre  of  Edomites  by  David,  and 
brought  to  Egypt.  There  he  was  adopted  by  Tahpenes,  the  wife 
of  Pharaoh,  who  brought  him  up  with  her  own  children.  When 
he  had  reached  manhood  he  heard  of  the  death  of  David,  and 
obtained  permission  to  return  to  his  own  land,  where  he  became 
king  (verses  14,  i5'*a,  b/3,  171^,  a/3,  19,  20*;3,  ^/3,  21,  22,  2^^).  (b)  In 
the  other  account  Adad  is  a  grown  man  who  with  a  band  of 
Edomites  flees  from  an  invading  army  under  Joab,  first  to  Midian, 
then  to  Paran,  and  ultimately  to  Egypt.  Pharaoh  there  receives 
him  with  every  mark  of  honour,  and  marries  him  to  the  sister  of 
the  queen  Tahpenes  ;  and  the  son  she  bears  to  him,  Genubath,  is 
reared  in  the  palace  (verses  i5*/3,  16%  17*07,  18,  ig'',  2o*a,  ^a&). 
The  relation  of  the  two  narratives  to  one  another  is  uncertain. 
WincklerV.  view  is  that  the  Adad  of  (b),  as  distinct  from  the  Hadad 
of  (a),  was  a  Midianite ;  and  that  his  son  Genubath  afterwards 
reigned  in  Midian,  as  Hadad  did  in  Edom.  It  is  not  impossible, 
however,  that  they  are  but  two  versions  of  the  same  incident, 
the  escape  and  return  of  the  Edomite  prince.  Although  we 
believe  the  above  analysis  to  be  essentially  sound,  we  must  forgo 
the  attempt  to  vindicate  it  within  the  narrow  compass  of  the 

notes.     (See  Burney,  p.  i57ff-)  ,  ^  ...       u     .u 

14.  The  introductory  verse  may  have  been  written  by  the 
compiler  of  Kings.  i-    .  • 

an  adversary:  Heb.  sdtdu,  a  name  frequently  applied  in 
the  O.  T.  to  a  human  opponent,  and  only  in  three  passages  to 
the  great  enemy  and  tempter  of  mankind  (Job  i,  n  ;  Zech.  lu.  i,  2  ; 
I  Chron.  xxi.  i). 

15,  16.  On  David's  subjugation  of  Edom  see  2  Sam.  viii.  13 
CR.  V.  marg.\  For  was  in  Edom  read  'smote  Edom  ;  or  (with 
LXX)  *  extirpated  Edom.'  The  expression  to  Dury  the  slain 
presupposes  some  great  defeat  of  the  Israelites,  the  record  of 
which  has  been  entirely  lost.  In  revenge  for  this  an  army  under 
Joab  occupied  the  country  for  six  months,  until  they  had  extir- 
pated the  male  population. 

N 


178  I   KINGS  11.  16-20.     S 

16  (for  Joab  and  all  Israel  remained  there  six  months,  until 

1 7  he  had  cut  off  every  male  in  Edom  :)  that  Hadad  fled, 
he  and  certain  Edomites  of  his  father's  servants  with  him, 

18  to  go  into  Egypt ;  Hadad  being  yet  a  little  child.  And 
they  arose  out  of  Midian,  and  came  to  Paran :  and  they 
took  men  with  them  out  of  Paran,  and  they  came  to 
Egypt,  unto  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt;  which  gave  him 
an  house,  and  appointed  him  victuals,   and  gave  him 

19  land.  And  Hadad  found  great  favour  in  the  sight  of 
Pharaoh,  so  that  he  gave  him  to  wife  the  sister  of  his 

20  own  wife,  the  sister  of  Tahpenes  the  queen.  And  the 
sister  of  Tahpenes  bare  him  Genubath  his  son,  whom 
Tahpenes  weaned  in  Pharaoh's  house:   and  Genubath 

17.  Hadad.  In  this  instance  alone  the  Hebrew  text  reads 
'Adad.  This  might,  of  course,  be  a  scribal  error  ;  but  it  may  also 
be  an  indication  of  diversity  of  authorship.  For  to  go  into  Egypt 
LXX  has  *  and  came  to  Egypt.' 

a  little  child.  The  incongruity  of  this  notice  vvith  what 
follows  in  verse  18  f.  is  apparent. 

18.  they  arose  out  of  Midian.  Midian  is  quite  off  the  route 
from  Edom  to  Egypt ;  to  save  the  consistency  of  the  narrative  it 
would  be  almost  necessary  to  substitute  Midian  for  Egypt  in 
verse  17.  But  the  real  explanation  doubtless  lies  in  the  composite 
structure  of  the  passage. 

Paran  is  the  name  of  the  great  wilderness  lying  between  the 
Sinaitic  peninsula,  Edom  and  Palestine.  The  reason  for  these 
devious  wanderings  of  the  fugitives  is  left  unexplained. 

19.  The  awkward  style  of  the  latter  part  of  the  verse  is 
surprising  on  any  view  of  the  origin  of  the  passage.  It  is  probable 
that  the  proper  name  of  the  princess  married  to  Hadad  is  disguised 
in  the  first  occurrence  of  the  word  for  sister,  and  has  been  pre- 
served in  a  similar  notice  inserted  by  the  LXX  in  the  history  of 
Jeroboam  (xii.  24®).  Many  commentators  accordingly  vcdid'Anotli 
for  ''dhoth  (sister)  ;  and  Kittel,  who  defends  the  integrity  of  the 
narrative,  renders  :  '  gave  him  Anoth  the  elder  (so  LXX)  sister 
of  his  wife  Tahpenes.'  But  the  real  source  of  the  confusion 
probably  lies  again  in  the  dual  narrative. 

20.  weaned.  Read,  with  LXX,  *  reared.'  Note  the  double 
statement  in  the  verse  as  to  the  education  of  a  boy  with  the  royal 
family.  In  the  original  documents  the  first  of  them  presumably 
referred  to  the  infant  Hadad  and  the  second  to  Genubath. 


I    KINGS  11.  21-24.     S  179 

was  in  Pharaoh's  house  among  the  sons  of  Pharaoh. 
And  when  Hadad  heard  in  Egypt  that  David  slept  with  21 
his  fathers,  and  that  Joab  the  captain  of  the  host  was 
dead,  Hadad  said  to  Pharaoh,  Let  me  depart,  that  I  may 
go  to  mine  own  country.  Then  Pharaoh  said  unto  him,  22 
But  what  hast  thou  lacked  with  me,  that,  behold,  thou 
seekest  to  go  to  thine  own  country  ?  And  he  answered, 
Nothing  :  howbeit  let  me  depart  in  any  wise. 

And  God  raised  up  another  adversary  unto  him,  Rezon  23 
the  son  of  Eliada,  which  had  fled  from  his  lord  Hadadezer 
king  of  Zobah :    and  he  gathered  men  unto  him,  and  24 
became  captain  over  a  troop,  when  David  slew  them 

22.  The  abrupt  ending  of  the  Hebrew  misses  the  whole  point 
of  the  story.  Fortunately,  the  original  conclusion  has  been 
preserved  intact  by  the  LXX.  After  verse  22  we  have  to  read  : 
'  And  Hadad  returned  to  his  country.  This  is  the  evil  that  Hadad 
did  ;  and  he  oppressed  Israel,  and  reigned  over  Edom.'  The  last 
sentence  is  found  in  the  Hebrew  at  the  close  of  the  Rezon  story, 
where  it  is  entirely  out  of  place  (see  verse  25)  ;  and  in  order  to 
adjust  it  to  its  new  connexion  Edom  was  changed  to  'Aram' 
(Syria).  In  the  LXX  the  Rezon  episode  is  thrust  into  the 
middle  of  verse  14.  It  looks  as  if  it  had  been  a  later  addition 
to  the  chapter,  which  in  both  recensions  has  violently  disturbed 
the  context. 

xi.  23-25^  Rezon  the  Aramaean.  The  career  of  this  northern 
adventurer  is  more  briefly  narrated,  but  was  of  even  more  fatal 
import  for  the  future  of  Israel  than  that  of  Hadad.  Rezon  was 
a  servant  of  Hadadezer  of  Zobah,  and  found  his  opportunity  when 
David  crushed  that  petty  Syrian  state.  He  became  for  a  time 
a  captain  of  banditti ;  but  eventually  captured  Damascus  and  es- 
tablished himself  there  as  king.  What  is  here  recorded  appears 
to  be  nothing  less  than  the  foundation  of  the  powerful  Aramaean 
kingdom  of  Damascus,  which  was  destined  to  be  the  most  formid- 
able rival  and  enemy  of  Israel  during  the  next  two  centuries,  till  it 
was  crushed  by  the  advance  of  the  Assyrians. 

23.  Zobah.  On  David's  conquest  of  this  kingdom,  and  its 
previous  relations  with  Damascus  and  Ammon,  see  2  Sam.  viii.  3  ff., 
x.  1-14 :  cf.  Winckler's  Gesch.  Israels,  i.  p.  isSff. 

24.  captain  over  a  troop :  or  '  roving  band '  (cf.  2  Sam.  iv.  z), 
d  hac 

N  2 


i86  I    KINGS  11.  25,26.     SKI 

of  Zobah  :  and  they  went  to  Damascus,  and  dwelt  therein, 

35  and  reigned  in  Damascus.  And  he  was  an  adversary  to 
Israel  all  the  days  of  Solomon,  beside  the  mischief  that 
Hadad  did\  and  he  abhorred  Israel,  and  reigned  over 
Syria. 

36  [KI]  And  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  an  Ephraimite 
of  Zeredah,  a  servant  of  Solomon,  whose  mother's  name 

when  David  .  .  .  Zobah.  These  words  are  wanting  in  the 
LXX,  and  are  probably  a  gloss  to  verse  23. 

they  went  to  Damascns :  better,  as  LXX,  '  he  captured 
Damascus'  (by  surprise),  with  the  two  following  verbs  in  sing. 
(LXX(L)).  ,  ,     . 

25.  an  adversary  to  .  .  .  Solomon:  the  natural  conclusion 
of  the  narrative.  Thus  a  second  large  tract  of  territory  was 
detached  from  the  Davidic  empire. 

On  the  remainder  of  the  verse  see  above  on  verse  22.  heside 
is  a  slight  corruption  of  the  original  *This^' 

xi.  26-40.  The  Antecedents  of  Jeroboam.  Jeroboam,  the  future 
leader  of  the  northern  tribes,  comes  on  the  scene  as  a  young 
Ephraimite  of  lowly  origin  who  had  entered  the  royal  service. 
During  the  building  of  the  Millo  Solomon  observed  his  ability, 
and  promoted  him  to  the  difficult  post  of  overseer  of  the  labour- 
bands  of  Ephraim.  Soon  afterwards  the  prophet  Ahijah  came 
across  his  path,  and  forecast  his  future  eminence,  doubtless  im- 
planting the  seeds  of  disaffection  in  his  ambitious  mind.  The 
affair  came  to  the  knowledge  of  Solomon,  who  sought  to  put  him 
out  of  the  way ;  but  Jeroboam  found  protection  with  Shishak,  king 
of  Egypt,  till  Solomon's  death.  The  first  portion  of  the  narrative 
and  its  conclusion  (verses  26-31,  40)  belong  to  an  ancient  source, 
of  which  xii.  1-20  is  probably  the  continuation.  Verses  32-39, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  full  of  Deuteronomic  phraseology,  and  are 
in  the  main  from  the  hand  of  the  compiler.  This  has  caused 
a  lacuna  in  the  original  version  of  the  narrative,  which  may 
perhaps  partly  be  supplied  from  a  parallel  history  of  Jeroboam 
preserved  by  the  LXX  in  xii.  24*"^  But  the  treatment  of  the 
story  of  Jeroboam  in  the  LXX  is  very  peculiar,  and  raises 
a  literary  problem  of  great  perplexity ;  see  Appendix,  Note  II. 

26.  Zeredah,  the  birthplace  of  Jeroboam,  is  mentioned  only 

*  Read  rm  for  n»i. 


I    KINGS  11.  27-31.     KI  i8i 

was  Zeruah,  a  widow  woman,  he  also  lifted  up  his  hand 
against  the  king.     And  this  was  the  cause  that  he  lifted  27 
up  his  hand  against  the  king :  Solomon  built  Millo,  and 
repaired  the  breach  of  the  city  of  David  his  father.     And  aS 
the  man  Jeroboam  was  a  mighty  man  of  valour :   and 
Solomon  saw  the  young  man  that  he  was  industrious, 
and  he  gave  him  charge  over  all  the  labour  of  the  house 
of  Joseph.     And  it  came  to  pass  at  that  time,  when  29 
Jeroboam  went  out  of  Jerusalem,  that  the  prophet  Ahijah 
the  Shilonite  found  him  in  the  way  ;  now  Ahijah  had  clad 
himself  with  a  new  garment;  and  they  two  were  alone 
in  the  field.     And  Ahijah  laid  hold  of  the  new  garment  30 
that  was  on  him,  and  rent  it  in  twelve  pieces.     And  he  31 

here  in  the  Hebrew:  LXX  always  reads  Sareira,  and  says  it 
was  *  in  the  mountain  of  Ephraim.'  The  locality  has  not  been 
identified. 

whose  mother's  name  .  .  .  woman.  Read,  with  LXX,  '  the 
son  of  a  widow  woman.'  Zeruah  means  'leprous,'  and  was  no 
doubt  invented  to  express  the  hatred  of  the  later  Jews  towards 
the  maker  of  the  golden  calves.  For  the  same  reason  she  is  called 
a  harlot  in  the  duplicate  narrative  of  the  LXX  (xii.  24''). 

27.  this  was  the  cause  that:  or, '  these  were  the  circumstances 
under  which,'  &c. 

built  the  Millo :  see  on  ix.  15. 

and  repaired :  better,  '  closing  up  the  breach,'  &c. 

28.  a  miffhty  man  :  a  capable  man  ;  see  on  i.  42. 
indiistrious :    lit.    *a  doer  of  work,'   a  man  of  push  and 

intelligence  who  got  things  carried  through. 

the  labour :  or,  '  burden.'  The  word  undoubtedly  denotes 
the  forced  labour  of  v.  13,  ix.  15,  23 ;  though  the  technical  term 
(mas)  of  the  annalistic  sources  is  not  employed. 

29.  Ahijah  the  Shilonite:  a  native  of  Shiloh,  the  modern 
Seilun,  north  of  Beth-el,  which  wr.s  therefore  still  at  this  time  an 
inhabited  place:  cf.  Jer.  xli.  5  with  vii.  12 ff. 

found  him  in  the  way:  LXX  adds  rightly,  'and  took 
him  aside  from  the  way ' ;  see  the  last  clause  of  the  verse,  and 
cf.  I  Sam.  ix.  27. 

a  new  g'arment ;  put  on  by  the  prophet  for  the  purpose  of 
the  symbolical  act  about  to  be  performed. 

30.  rent  it  in  twelve  pieces  :  symbolizing  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel.     Twelve  was  the  ideal  fixed  number  of  the  tribes,  which 


i82  I   KINGS  11.  3^-34.     KID 

said  to  Jeroboam,  Take  thee  ten  pieces :  for  thus  saith 
the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  Behold,  I  will  rend  the 

32  kingdom  out  of  the  hand  of  Solomon,  and  will  give  ten 
tribes  to  thee :  [D]  (but  he  shall  have  one  tribe,  for  my 
servant  David's  sake,  and  for  Jerusalem's  sake,  the  city 
which  I  have  chosen  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel :) 

33  because  that  they  have  forsaken  me,  and  have  worshipped 
Ashtoreth  the  goddess  of  the  Zidonians,  Chemosh  the 
god  of  Moab,  and  Milcom  the  god  of  the  children  of 
Ammon ;  and  they  have  not  walked  in  my  ways,  to  do 
that  which  is  right  in  mine  eyes,  and  to  keep  my  statutes 

34  and  my  judgements,  as  did  David  his  father.  Howbeit 
I  will  not  take  the  whole  kingdom  out  of  his  hand :  but 


expressed  the  unity  of  the  nation.  The  enumeration  varied  accord- 
ing as  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  were  reckoned  as  one  tribe  (Joseph) 
or  two  :  in  the  latter  case,  the  landless  tribe  of  Levi  was  excluded 
from  the  number.  Here  the  old  document  assigns  ten  tribes  to 
Jeroboam,  and  therefore  (apparently)  leaves  to  Solomon's  son  the 
two  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin.  In  verses  32,  36,  however, 
only  one  tribe  (Judah)  is  left  to  the  house  of  David ;  and  this  view 
is  shown  to  be  historically  accurate  by  xii.  20.  The  difficulty 
cannot  be  quite  satisfactorily  explained.  It  would  be  easy  to 
imagine  an  enumeration  which  gave  only  ten  tribes  to  Jeroboam 
and  left  one  to  David  ;  but  no  ingenuity  can  make  out  that 
10+  I  =  12. 

32.  See  verse  13.  The  Deuteronomic  addition  commences  here  : 
cf.  the  last  clause  with  Deut.  xii.  5,  11,  xiv.  23,  xv.  20,  &c. ;  and 
1  Kings  viii.  16,  xiv.  21 ;  2  Kings  xxi.  7.  The  compiler's  hand 
13  manifest  in  the  phrases  for  my  servant  David's  sake  (verses 
12  f.,  XV.  4;  2  Kings  viii.  19,  xix.  34,  xx.  6)  and  chosen  ont  of  all 
the  tribes  of  Israel  (see  the  passages  just  cited). 

33.  On  Ashtoreth,  Chemosh,  and  Milcom,  see  verses  5.  7. 

34.  the  whole  kingfdom.  The  proper  antithesis  to  this  is  the 
'one  tribe'  of  verse  36.  The  mitigation  of  Solomon's  punishment 
is  twofold  :  (a)  I  will  not  take  the  kingdom  out  of  his  hand,  but 
out  of  the  hand  of  his  son  ;  and  ^U)  I  will  not  take  away  the 
whole  kingdom,  but  will  leave  one  tribe.  In  the  text  the  two 
points  are  somewhat  awkwardly  confused,  but  it  is  scarcely 
advisable  to  smooth  awav  the  irregularitv  by  omitting  the  w^ord 
'whole.' 


I    KINGS  11.  35-39.     D  183 

I  will  make  him  prince  all  the  days  of  his  life,  for  David 
my  servant's  sake,  whom  I  chose,  because  he  kept  my 
commandments  and  my  statutes :   but  I  will  take  the  35 
kingdom  out  of  his  son's  hand,  and  will  give  it  unto  thee, 
even  ten  tribes.     And  unto  his  son  will  I  give  one  tribe,  36 
that  David  my  servant  may  have  a  lamp  alway  before 
me  in  Jerusalem,  the  city  which  I  have  chosen  me  to 
put  my  name  there.     And  I  will  take  thee,  and  thou  37 
shalt  reign  according  to  all  that  thy  soul  desireth,  and 
shalt  be  king  over  Israel.     And  it  shall  be,  if  thou  wilt  38 
hearken  unto  all  that  I  command  thee,  and  wilt  walk  in 
my  ways,  and  do  that  which  is  right  in  mine  eyes,  to 
keep  my  statutes  and  my  commandments,  as  David  my 
servant  did ;  that  I  will  be  with  thee,  and  will  build  thee 
a  sure  house,  as  I  built  for  David,  and  will  give  Israel 
unto  thee.     And  I  will  for  this  afflict  the  seed  of  David,  39 


35.  even  ten  tribes.  Read,  '  the  ten  tribes.'  The  definite  article 
suggests  that  the  expression  had  come  to  be  used  as  a  standing 
designation  of  the  northern  kingdom. 

36.  may  have  a  lamp  alway :  cf.  xv.  4  ;  2  Kings  viii.  19 ; 
2  Chron.  xxi.  7  :  and  for  the  figure,  Job  xviii.  6 ;  Prov.  xiii.  9, 
XX.  20 ;  Jer.  xxv.  10.  The  image  is  taken  from  the  custom  of 
keeping  a  lamp  constantly  burning  in  the  tent  or  house,  a  custom 
said  to  be  observed  by  the  Fellaheen  of  Palestine  at  the  present 
day.  The  extinction  of  the  light  signifies  the  breaking  up  of  the 
home  and  the  destruction  of  the  family. 

37.  king-  over  Israel :  in  the  narrower  (and  older)  sense,  as 
contrasted  with  Judah. 

38.  will  build  thee  a  sure  house.  Jeroboam  has  the  making 
or  marring  of  the  dynasty  in  his  hands  ;  if  he  emulates  the  piety 
of  David  his  kingdom  may  be  equally  permanent.  The  words 
are  written,  however,  from  the  standpoint  of  an  age  which  looks 
back  on  the  establishment  of  David's  house  as  an  accomplished 
fact,  and  knows  that  the  religious  conditions  had  not  been  fulfilled 
by  Jeroboam.  The  last  words,  and  will  give  Israel  unto  thee, 
are  to  be  deleted,  along  with  the  whole  of  verse  39,  as  the 
interpolation  of  a  later  reader.  The  clauses  are  wanting  in 
the  LXX. 


i84  I    KINGS  11.  4c— 12.  I.     DKIDKI 

40  but  not  for  ever.  [KI]  Solomon  sought  therefore  to  kill 
Jeroboam :  but  Jeroboam  arose,  and  fled  into  Egypt, 
unto  Shishak  king  of  Egypt,  and  was  in  Egypt  until  the 
death  of  Solomon. 

41  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Solomon,  and  all  that 
he  did,  and  his  wisdom,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book 

42  of  the  acts  of  Solomon  ?  And  the  time  that  Solomon 
reigned  in  Jerusalem  over  all   Israel   was  forty  years. 

43  And  Solomon  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in 
the  city  of  David  his  father :  and  Rehoboam  his  son 
reigned  in  his  stead. 

12      [KI]  And  Rehoboam  went  to  Shechem  :  for  all  Israel 

40  concludes  the  original  account  of  Jeroboam's  rupture  with 
Solomon.  On  the  additional  particulars  recorded  in  the  parallel 
of  the  LXX,  see  Appendix,  Note  II. 

Shishak  king'  of  Efifypt :  see  on  xiv.  25  ff. 

xi.  41-43.  Editorial  Notice  of  Solomon's  Death.  An  instalment  of 
the  '  framework  '  of  the  compiler  :  see  Introd.,  p.  10  ff. 

41.  On  the  hook  of  the  acts  of  Soloiuon  see  Introd.,  p.  25 ; 
and  the  note  on  ch.  iii-xi.  p.  82. 

42.  The  notice  of  the  duration  of  reign  belongs  properly  to 
the  introductory  formula  ;  but  that  was  in  the  case  of  Solomon 
incomplete. 

43.  See  on  ii.  10.  Between  the  mention  of  Solomon's  burial 
and  Rehoboam's  accession  the  LXX  inserts  a  notice  of  Jeroboam's 
return  from  Egypt  to  his  native  town  of  Sareira,  in  the  following 
terms  :  '  And  when  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  heard  it — he 
being  still  in  Egypt,  whither  he  had  fled  from  the  face  of  Solomon, 
and  had  dwelt  in  Egypt — he  returned  and  went  to  his  city  Sareira, 
which  is  in  Mount  Ephraim  ;  and  king  Solomon  slept  with  his 
fathers.'     See  further  on  xii.  2,  and  Appendix.  Note  II. 

History  of  thf  Divided  Monarchy. 

I  Kings  xii— 2  Kings  xvii. 

xii.  I — xiv.  20.     Jeroboant  I  of  Israel. 

xii.   1-20.     The  Revolt  of  the  Northern   Tribes.     The  narrative 

opens  abruptly  with  the  mention  of  Rehoboam's  visit  to  Shechem, 

where  a  national  assembly  had  been  convened,  under  circumstances 

which  are  not  related,  for  the  purpose  of  confirming  his  succession. 


I    KINGS  12.  2.     KI  185 

were  come  to  Shechem  to  make  him  king.     And  it  came  2 
to  pass,  when  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  heard  of  it, 

A  deputation  waits  on  the  new  monarch,  and  tenders  him  the 
allegiance  of  the  people,  but  only  on  condition  that  the  oppres- 
sive yoke  of  Solomon's  government  is  lightened  ;  and  Rehoboam 
promises  an  answer  at  the  end  of  three  days.  Having  meanwhile 
taken  counsel,  first  with  the  experienced  statesmen  who  had  stood 
round  the  throne  of  his  father,  and  then  with  his  own  juvenile  and 
foolish  companions,  he  decides  to  follow  the  reckless  advice  of 
the  latter :  he  accordingly  meets  the  people  on  the  third  day  with 
an  arrogant  and  contemptuous  refusal  of  their  demands.  The 
insolent  bearing  of  the  king  rouses  the  spirit  of  the  tribesmen,  who 
renounce  allegiance  to  the  house  of  David  ;  and  give  an  earnest  of 
the  temper  they  are  in  by  stoning  to  death  the  hated  minister 
of  the  corvee.  Rehoboam  flees  in  hot  haste  to  Jerusalem  ;  and  the 
assembly  proceeds  to  the  election  of  a  king,  its  choice  naturally 
falling  on  Jeroboam  who  has  just  returned  from  Egypt.  At  this 
point,  however,  the  ancient  cleavage  between  north  and  south 
declares  itself :  the  tribe  of  Judah  remains  faithful  to  the  Davidic 
dynasty,  while  Jeroboam  establishes  his  dominion  over  the  more 
independent  and  vigorous  tribes  of  the  north. 

The  first  impression  produced  by  this  narrative  is  that  its  author 
was  in  sympathy  with  the  revolt,  and  therefore  presumably  a  native 
of  north  Israel,  That  impression  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the 
writer  acquiesces,  as  a  Judaean  chronicler  would  scarcely  have 
done,  in  the  idea  that  the  nation  had  still  the  right  to  elect  its  own 
sovereign  (see  p.  57  f.).  The  conclusion  may  not  be  absolutely 
certain  ;  the  passage  displays  something  of  the  same  neutral  and 
dispassionate  treatment  of  events  which  we  have  observed  in 
ch.  i,  ii.  There  are,  indeed,  some  unmistakable  literary  affinities 
with  2  Sam.  ix-xx,  which  have  led  Wellhausen  and  others  to 
attribute  it,  if  not  to  the  same  author,  at  least  to  one  who,  like 
him,  belonged  to  the  southern  kingdom.  We  have  no  assurance, 
however,  that  2  Sam.  ix-xx,  i  Kings  i,  ii  was  written  by  a  Judaean; 
and,  on  the  whole,  it  seems  probable  that  both  here  and  in  xi.  26  ff. 
we  have  an  extract  from  the  chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Israel, 
whose  author  was  acquainted  with  the  *  Court  History '  of  2  Sam. 
ix  ff.  The  phrase  '  unto  this  day '  in  verse  19  shows  that  it  is 
not  contemporary  with  the  incidents  related.  See  further, 
Appendix,  p,  446. 

1.  Shechem:  now  Ndbulus,  at  the  north-east  foot  of  Mount 
Gerizim.  From  the  days  of  the  patriarchs  downwards  Shechem  was 
both  religiously  and  politically  one  of  the  most  important  cities  in 
O.  T.  history,  and  was  afterwards  selected  by  Jeroboam  as  the 
capital  of  his  kingdom  (verse  25). 


i86  I    KINGS  12.  .vr>.     KI 

(for  he  was  yet  in  Egypt,  whither  he  had  fled  from  the 
presence  of  king  Solomon,  and  Jeroboam  dwelt  in  Egypt, 

3  and  they  sent  and  called  him ;)  that  Jeroboam  and  all 
the  congregation  of  Israel  came,  and  spake  unto  Re- 

4  hoboam,  saying,  Thy  father  made  our  yoke  grievous : 
now  therefore  make  thou  the  grievous  service  of  thy 
father,  and  his  heavy  yoke  which  he  put  upon  us,  lighter, 

5  and  we  will  serve  thee.  And  he  said  unto  them,  Depart  yet 
for  three  days,  then  come  again  to  me.     And  the  people 

6  departed.  And  king  Rehoboam  took  counsel  with  the 
old  men,  that  had  stood  before  Solomon  his  father  while 
he  yet  lived,  saying,  What  counsel  give  ye  me  to  return 


all . . .  Israel :  including  Judah.  The  idea  seems  to  be  that  the 
demand  for  the  redress  of  grievances  came  from  the  whole  nation  ; 
it  was  only  when  they  came  to  the  election  of  a  king  that  the 
schism  between  Israel  and  Judah  appeared  (verse  20).  The 
original  document  must  have  contained  some  explanation  of  the 
reasons  which  led  to  this  extraordinary  convention.  The  parallel 
account  of  the  LXX  (xx.  24  "*)  says  the  assembly  was  convened  by 
Jeroboam,  who  had  returned  from  Egypt  and  fortified  himself  in 
his  native  town  of  Sareira  (24^).  The  explanation  is  in  itself 
intelligible  ;  but  it  is  irreconcileable  with  the  presuppositions  of 
this  narrative  (see  on  verse  20). 

2,  3*  (to  'came')  ought  to  be  omitted,  with  LXX.  Verse  2  is 
inserted  by  the  LXX  in  a  still  more  unsuitable  place  (see  on  xi.  43); 
but  the  truth  is  that  the  notice  does  not  belong  to  the  present 
narrative  at  all.  The  fact  of  Jeroboam's  return  is,  of  course, 
assumed  ;  but  he  takes  no  part  in  the  proceedings. 

3^  Read,  accordingly,  'and  they  spake';  or,  as  LXX,  'and 
the  people  spake.' 

4.  made  our  yoke  sfrievous.  The  yoke  is  a  natural  emblem 
of  servitude,  which  may  be  easy  and  reasonable  (as  Jer.  v.  5, 
Matt.  xi.  30),  or  (more  commonly)  galling  and  intolerable  (Deut. 
xxviii.  48  ;  Isa.  ix.  4  ;  Jer.  xxviii.  14.  and  often).  The  people  do 
not  here  ask  for  an  entire  remission  of  their  burdens,  but  only 
for  a  relaxation  of  the  more  oppressive  imposts  and  services — the 
taxation  and  forced  labour  that  were  crushing  the  life  out  of 
them. 

5.  yet  for  three  days:  better,  as  LXX,  'until  (the  end  of) 
three  days.' 


I    KINGS  12.  7-13.     KI  187 

answer  to  this  people  ?    And  they  spake  unto  him,  saying,   7 
If  thou  wilt  be  a  servant  unto  this  people  this  day,  and 
wilt  serve  them,  and  answer  them,  and  speak  good  words 
to  them,  then  they  will  be  thy  servants  for  ever.     But  he   8 
forsook  the  counsel  of  the  old  men  which  they  had  given 
him,  and  took  counsel  with  the  young  men  that  were 
grown  up  with  him,  that  stood  before  him.     And  he  said  9 
unto  them,  What  counsel  give  ye,  that  we  may  return 
answer  to  this  people,  who  have  spoken  to  me,  saying, 
Make  the  yoke  that  thy  father  did  put  upon  us  lighter  ? 
And  the  young  men  that  were  grown  up  with  him  spake  10 
unto  him,  saying.  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  this  people 
that  spake  unto  thee,  saying.  Thy  father  made  our  yoke 
heavy,  but  make  thou  it  lighter  unto  us ;  thus  shalt  thou 
speak  unto  them,  My  little  finger  is  thicker  than  my 
father's  loins.     And  now  whereas  my  father  did  lade  you  n 
with  a  heavy  yoke,  I  will  add  to  your  yoke;  my  father 
chastised  you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise  you  with 
scorpions.     So  Jeroboam  and  all  the  people  came  to  12 
Rehoboam  the  third  day,  as  the  king  bade,  saying.  Come 

7.  wilt  be  a  servant . . .  they  will  "be  thy  servants.  The  counsel 
of  the  old  men  does  not  seem  to  look  beyond  the  exigencies  of  the 
moment ;  they  recommend  a  politic  and  conciliatory  answer,  but 
not  necessarily  a  considerate  administration. 

8.  the  young"  men:  lit.  'boys' — a  contemptuous  and  hyper- 
bolical expression,  which  is  surprising  if  Rehoboam  was  at  the 
lime  forty-one  years  of  age  (xiv.  21).  The  parallel  in  LXX  (B) 
(xii.  24"')  makes  him,  however,  only  sixteen  at  his  accession. 

10,  11.  The  two  metaphors — the  little  finger  thicker  than  the 
loins,  and  scorpions  as  contrasted  with  whips — were  of  a  kind  to 
live  in  the  memory  of  a  high-spirited  and  liberty-loving  people. 

scorpions.  The  same  name  is  said  to  have  been  given  by  the 
Romans  to  an  implement  of  flagellation.  It  is  described  by 
Ephrem  Syrus  as  a  long  bag  of  leather,  stuffed  with  sand,  and 
provided  with  spikes  (Thenius). 

12.  Omit  Jeroboam,  and  read  with  LXX.  *  And  all  Israel  came' 
(see  above  on  verses  2,  3). 


i88  I    KINGS  12.  1.V18.     KIZKI 

13  to  me  again  the  third  day.  And  the  king  answered  the 
people  roughly,  and  forsook  the  counsel  of  the  old  men 

14  which  they  had  given  him ;  and  spake  to  them  after  the 
counsel  of  the  young  men,  saying,  My  father  made  your 
yoke  heavy,  but  I  will  add  to  your  yoke :  my  father  chas- 
tised you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise  you  with  scorpions. 

15  So  the  king  hearkened  not  unto  the  people;  for  it  was 
a  thing  brought  about  of  the  Lord,  that  he  might 
establish  his  word,  which  the  Lord  spake  by  the  hand 
of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite  to  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat. 

16  And  when  all  Israel  saw  that  the  king  hearkened  not 
unto  them,  the  people  answered  the  king,  saying,  What 
portion  have  we  in  David  ?  neither  have  we  inheritance 
in  the  son  of  Jesse  :  to  your  tents,  O  Israel :  now  see  to 
thine  own  house,  David.     So  Israel  departed  unto  their 

17  tents.  [Z]  But  as  for  the  children  of  Israel  which  dwelt 
in  the  cities  of  Judah,  Rehoboam  reigned  over  them. 

18  [KI]  Then  king  Rehoboam  sent  Adoram,  who  was  over 

15.  a  thing  brougrht  abont:  Heb.  'a  turn  '—of  Providence  ; 
as  we  speak  of '  a  turn  of  fortune.' 

16.  What  portion  have  we?  Cf.  2  Sam.  xx.  i,  where  the 
war-cry  is  sounded  in  almost  identical  terms  by  Sheba  the 
Benjamite,  when  he  headed  the  last  great  revolt  of  Israelites 
against  the  Davidic  monarchy.  The  expression  to  yotir  tents, 
O  Israel  is  doubtless  a  reminiscence  of  the  nomadic  life  ;  and  it  is 
tempting  to  suppose  that  it  means  to  take  the  field  in  readiness  for 
a  campaign.  But  no  evidence  can  be  found  in  support  of  this 
interpretation  ;  the  tent  is  always  simply  a  synonym  for  the  private 
dwelling,  and  therefore  we  must  understand  the  phrase  here  as 
a  signal  for  dispersion,  and  refusal  to  obey  the  call  to  united  action. 
Hence  the  last  clause,  So  Israel  departed  tinto  their  tents,  is 
either  a  gloss,  or  it  describes  the  final  upshot  of  the  proceedings. 

17  is  a  late  interpolation  which  is  wanting  in  the  LXX  :  it  is 
perhaps  based  on  the  representation  of  2  Chron.  xi.  16  f.,  where 
we  read  that  pious  Israelites  from  the  north  became  naturalized  in 
Judah,  in  order  to  worship  God  according  to  the  law. 

18.  Adoram  (  —  Adoniram>,  who  was  over  the  levy.  See  on 
iv.  6,  and  v.  14.     The  sending  of  this  unpopular  official  to  quell 


I    KINGS  12.  19-21.     KID(?)  189 

the  levy ;  and  all  Israel  stoned  him  with  stones,  that  he 
died.  And  king  Rehoboam  made  speed  to  get  him  up 
to  his  chariot,  to  flee  to  Jerusalem.  So  Israel  rebelled  19 
against  the  house  of  David,  unto  this  day.  And  it  came  20 
to  pass,  when  all  Israel  heard  that  Jeroboam  was  returned, 
that  they  sent  and  called  him  unto  the  congregation,  and 
made  him  king  over  all  Israel :  there  was  none  that 
followed  the  house  of  David^  but  the  tribe  of  Judah  only. 

[D?]  And  when  Rehoboam  was  come  to  Jerusalem,  21 

the  revolt  shows  how  little  Rehoboam  and  his  youthful  advisers 
understood  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  Only  a  speedy  flight  saves 
Rehoboam  from  the  infuriated  people. 

19.  unto  this  day.  The  event  v^as  long  remembered  as  the 
greatest  disaster  that  had  ever  befallen  the  house  of  David  : 
Isa.  vii.  17. 

20.  Jeroboam  may  have  been  pulling  the  wires  behind  the 
scenes,  but  it  is  only  now,  and  probably  after  some  little 
interval,  that  he  steps  on  to  the  stage  and  attains  the  goal  of  his 
ambition. 

the  tribe  of  Judah  only.  The  LXX  adds,  'and  Benjamin,'  in 
accordance  with  verses  21,  23  ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
Hebrew  represents  the  older  and  more  accurate  tradition.  Jerusa- 
lem was  in  the  territory  of  Benjamin,  and  some  Benjamite  families 
must  have  been  incorporated  in  the  southern  kingdom  ;  but 
the  tribe  of  Benjamin  as  a  whole  went  with  the  north.  See 
on  xi.  30. 

xii.  2 1 -24 .  Civil  War  averted  by  a  Prophet's  Message.  Rehoboam's 
first  concern  is  to  recover  by  force  what  his  ill-advised  action  had 
lost.  On  his  return  to  Jerusalem  he  sets  about  raising  a  great 
army  in  order  to  subdue  his  rebellious  subjects.  But  the  enter- 
prise is  at  once  abandoned  at  the  instance  of  the  prophet  Shemaiah, 
who  shows  that  it  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  Yahweh.  The  verses 
are  clearly  not  homogeneous  with  the  preceding  section — contrast 
the  inclusion  of  Benjamin  in  Rehoboam's  kingdom  with  the 
explicit  statement  of  verse  20  ;  and  they  present  a  view  of  things 
hardly  consistent  with  the  annalistic  notice  in  xiv.  30,  which  says 
there  was  constant  warfare  between  Jeroboam  and  Rehoboam. 
The  passage  belongs  to  a  series  of  prophetic  narratives,  which 
illustrate  the  influence  of  the  prophets  on  the  policy  of  the 
kings.  There  is  nothing  to  show  whether  it  was  inserted  by 
the  compiler. 


I9Q  I    KINGS  12.  22-25.     D(?)KID 

he  assembled  all  the  house  of  Judah,  and  the  tribe  of 

Benjamin,  an  hundred  and  fourscore  thousand  chosen 

men,  which  were  warriors,  to  fight  against  the  house  of 

Israel,  to  bring  the  kingdom  again  to  Rehoboam  the  son 

2  3  of  Solomon.     But  the  word  of  God  came  unto  Shemaiah 

23  the  man  of  God,  saying.  Speak  unto  Rehoboam  the  son 

of  Solomon,  king  of  Judah,  and  unto  all  the  house  of 

Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  people, 

34  saying.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye  shall  not  go  up,  nor 

fight  against  your  brethren  the  children  of  Israel :  return 

every  man  to  his  house;  for  this  thing  is  of  me.     So 

they  hearkened  unto  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  returned 

and  went  their  way,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord. 

25      [KID]   Then  Jeroboam  built   Shechem   in   the   hill 

22.  Shemaiali  is  otherwise  unknown,  although  in  the  parallel 
narrative  of  the  LXX  (xii.  24®)  he  is  the  prophet  who  figures  in 
the  mantle-rending  incident  instead  of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite. 

the  man  of  God :  the  most  general  O.  T.  designation  of  the 
prophet.  It  appears  never  to  be  applied  to  any  but  prophets,  or 
men  regarded  as  prophets.  In  Judges  xiii.  6,  8  we  may  suppose 
that  the  angel  appeared  in  the  guise  of  a  prophet. 

[Between  verse  24  and  verse  25  the  LXX  has  a  long  addition 
(xii.  24*"^  in  Swete),  on  which  see  Appendix,  Note  II.] 

xii.  25-33.  Incidents  of  J eroboaifCs  Reign,  (i)  The  fortification 
of  Shechem  on  the  west,  and  Penuel  on  the  east,  of  the  Jordan, 
verse  25  ;  (2)  the  institution  of  the  calf-worship  of  Beth-el  and 
Dan,  a  measure  prompted  by  fear  lest  the  superior  prestige  of  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem  should  maintain  the  religious  unity  of  Israel, 
and  thereby  undo  the  political  effects  of  the  revolution,  verses 
26-30  ;  (3)  the  appointment  of  a  non-Levitical  priesthood  for  the 
northern  sanctuaries,  verse  31  ;  and  (4)  the  fixing  of  the  autumn 
festival  in  the  eighth  month,  verse  32.  The  section  is  of  mixed 
origin  :  the  notices  are  mostly  such  as  might  have  come  ultimately 
from  the  annals  of  the  northern  kingdom  ;  but  they  have  been 
partly  recast  in  the  process  of  compilation. 

25.  Shechem  (see  on  verse  x)  was  a  natural  place  to  choose 
as  a  capital,  both  from  its  historic  importance  and  because  of  the 
part  it  had  played  in  the  revolt. 


I    KINGS  12.  2C-2S.     KID  191 

country  of  Ephraim,  and  dwelt  therein  ;  and  he  went  out 
from  thence,  and  built  Penuel.     And  Jeroboam  said  in  26 
his  heart,  Now  shall  the  kingdom  return  to  the  house  of 
David:   if  this  people  go  up  to  offer  sacrifices  in  the  a; 
house  of  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem,  then  shall  the  heart  of 
this  people  turn  again  unto  their  lord,  even  unto  Reho- 
boam  king  of  Judah ;  and  they  shall  kill  me,  and  return 
to  Rehoboam  king  of  Judah.     Whereupon  the  king  took  28 
counsel,  and  made  two  calves  of  gold ;  and  he  said  unto 

Penuel  was  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  near  the  Jabbok 
(Gen.  xxxii.  31  f.  ;  Judges  viii.  8f.);  but  its  site  has  not  been 
discovered.  The  clause  lie  went  out  from  thence  can  only  refer 
to  a  transference  of  the  seat  of  government  to  the  trans-Jordanic 
region,  a  change  which  must  have  been  due  to  some  unrecorded 
troubles  of  Jeroboam's  reign.  It  has  been  plausibly  conjectured 
that  it  was  a  consequence  of  Shishak's  invasion  (see  on  xiv.  25)  ; 
but  the  hypothesis  loses  much  of  its  attractiveness  if  it  be  the  case 
that  Penuel  itself  was  one  of  the  cities  conquered  by  Shishak. 

26.  27  are  assigned  by  some  critics  to  one  of  the  compilers,  but 
without  adequate  reason.  It  is  quite  credible  that  even  at  this 
early  period  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  had  come  to  be  regarded  as 
the  chief  centre  of  national  worship,  and  had  begun  to  attract 
pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  In  such  circumstances 
Jeroboam  would  have  good  reason  to  view  with  misgiving  its 
rivalry  with  the  ancient  sanctuaries  of  the  north,  and  its  influence 
over  the  minds  of  his  subjects. 

27.  and  return  .  . .  Judah :  may  be  omitted  with  the  LXX. 

28.  two  calves  of  gfold.  The  images  were  probably  in  the  form 
of  a  young  ox  ;  the  name  *  calves  *  seems  to  have  been  an  epithet 
of  derision  coined  by  opponents  of  this  species  of  idolatry, 
suggested  by  the  diminutive  size  of  the  images.  The  origin  of 
this  symbol  of  Yahweh  is  still  somewhat  obscure.  That  it  was 
an  imitation  of  the  Apis-  or  Mnevis-cult  introduced  by  Jeroboam 
from  Egypt,  or  surviving  among  the  people  since  the  time  of  the 
Exodus  (Exod.  xxxii),  is  little  probable,  the  difference  being  too 
fundamental  between  the  worship  of  a  living  animal  as  the 
incarnation  of  the  Deity  and  the  use  of  an  image  as  His  symbol. 
There  is  most  to  be  said  for  the  view  that  the  ox  was  an  ancient 
Semitic  emblem  of  divinity,  known  to  the  Israelites  especially 
through  the  Canaanites,  whose  Baal  is  associated  with  the 
figure  of  the  ox.  In  the  Babylonian  religion  the  ox  was  the 
sacred  animal  of  the  Syrian  and  Babylonian  thunder-god  Ramman, 


192  I    KINGS  12.  29-32.     KIDZ 

them,  It  is  too  much  for  you  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem; 
behold  thy  gods,  O  Israel,  which  brought  thee  up  out  of 

29  the  land  of  Egypt.     And  he  set  the  one  in  Beth-el,  and 

30  the  other  put  he  in  Dan.     And  this  thing  became  a  sin  : 
for  the  people  went  to  ivorship  before  the  one,  even  unto 

31  Dan.     And  he  made  houses  of  high  places,  and  made 
priests  from  among  all  the  people,  which  were  not  of  the 

33  sons  of  Levi.     [Z]  And  Jeroboam  ordained  a  feast  in  the 


and  might  easily  have  been  transferred  to  the  worship  of  Yahweh 
{KAT^y  p.  449 f.).  It  is  in  keeping  with  the  conservative 
tendency  of  Jeroboam's  religious  policy  to  suppose  that  his 
innovation  consisted  in  giving  legal  sanction  to  a  type  of  worship 
already  known  and  practised  in  certain  sanctuaries  of  his  realm. 
he  said  unto  them.  Read,  with  LXX,  '  to  the  people. ' 
It  is  too  mnch.  Rather,  'Ye  need  no  longer  go  up,'  &c. 
(see  margin). 

behold  thy  gods.  Cf.  the  words  of  Aaron  in  Exod.  xxxii.  4,  8. 
The  formula  has  evidently  been  borrowed  in  the  one  passage  from 
the  other  ;  but  which  of  the  two  is  original  it  is  difficult  to  decide. 
If  any  stress  could  be  laid  on  the  plural,  the  decision  must  be  in 
favour  of  this  verse  (since  only  one  calf  was  made  by  Aaron)  ;  but 
the  construction  of  the  word  God  (plural  of  eminence)  with  a 
plural  verb,  though  unusual,  is  not  without  parallel. 

29.  Beth-el  {Beittn,  ten  miles  north  of  Jerusalem)  and  Dan  (in 
the  extreme  north,  near  one  of  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  see  on 
XV.  ao)  were  two  sanctuaries  of  immemorial  antiquity. 

30.  the  people  went  .  .  .  Dan.  The  text  is  evidently  in- 
complete. We  should  probably  read,  <■  And  the  people  went  before 
the  one  to  Beth-el,  and  before  the  other  to  Dan '  (so  Burney). 
Kittel,  on  the  other  hand,  omits  the  first  half  of  the  verse  as 
a  gloss,  and  takes  the  rest  as  a  continuation  of  verse  29,  rendering : 
'  And  the  people  marched  before  the  one  as  far  as  Dan  ; '  i.  e. 
conducted  the  image,  in  a  solemn  procession,  to  its  future  resting- 
place. 

31.  houses  of  higrh  places:  i.e.  probably,  temples  in  the 
already  existing  high  places  (see  on  iii.  2). 

from  among  all  the  people  :  '  from  the  masses  of  the  people.' 
This  was  in  accordance  with  early  usage  (cf.  i  Sam.  i.  i  IT.,  2  Sam. 
viii.  18,  XX.  26).  But  the  preference  of  Levites  for  priests,  im- 
plied in  the  second  half  of  the  verse,  is  also  in  accordance  with 
early  ideas  (Judges  xvii.  13). 

32.  The  feast  referred  to  is  the  Feast  of  Ingathering  or  of 


I    KINGS  12.  33—13.  T.     Z  193 

eighth  month,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  like 
unto  the  feast  that  is  in  Judah,  and  he  went  up  unto  the 
altar ;  so  did  he  in  Beth-el,  sacrificing  unto  the  calves 
that  he  had  made :  and  he  placed  in  Beth-el  the  priests 
of  the  high  places  which  he  had  made.  And  he  went  33 
up  unto  the  altar  which  he  had  made  in  Beth-el  on  the 
fifteenth  day  in  the  eighth  month,  even  in  the  month 
which  he  had  devised  of  his  own  heart :  and  he  ordained 
a  feast  for  the  children  of  Israel,  and  went  up  unto  the 
altar,  to  burn  incense. 

And,  behold,  there  came  a  man  of  God  out  of  Judah  13 

Tabernacles  :  see  on  viii.  2.  The  expression  like  unto  the  feast 
tliat  is  in  Judah  shows  that  a  general  regulation,  and  not  a 
single  observance,  is  meant.  The  fixing  of  this  festival  in  the 
eighth  month  probably  stereotyped  the  local  custom  of  the  north  : 
whether  it  be  correctly  attributed  to  Jeroboam  is  another  question. 
The  writer  has  in  view  the  divergence  between  the  Israehtish  and 
(later)  Judaean  practice  ;  and  traces  it  to  the  schismatic  policy  of 
Jeroboam. 

and  he  went  up.  The  text  here  is  in  some  confusion.  Since 
this  clause  is  resumed  at  the  beginning  of  verse  33  it  is  probable 
that  the  intervening  words  have  been  interpolated,  under  the 
mistaken  impression  that  the  reference  is  to  Jeroboam's  habitual 
practice,  and  not  to  a  particular  occasion.  The  truth  is,  however, 
that  verse  33  is  a  transition  verse,  added  to  introduce  the  episode 
of  the  next  chapter,  and  describing  with  much  circumlocution  the 
precise  situation  in  which  the  message  of  the  prophet  was  delivered, 

xiii.  1-34.  The  Man  of  God  from  Jttdah.  The  narrative  consists 
of  two  parts :  (i)  The  scene  before  the  altar  at  Beth-el,  where  the 
king's  illegal  sacrifice  is  interrupted  by  the  oracle  of  an  unnamed 
man  of  God  from  Judah,  which  is  accompanied  by  a  miraculous 
sign  :  Jeroboam's  arm  being  paralysed,  but  healed  immediately  on 
the  intercession  of  the  prophet.  The  latter  refuses  a  reward,  on 
the  ground  that  he  is  under  a  strict  injunction  neither  to  eat  bread 
nor  drink  water  in  the  land,  but  to  return  to  his  own  country  by 
another  way,  verses  i-io.  (2)  Then  follows  the  account  of  how 
he  was  induced  to  violate  his  instructions  by  an  old  prophet  of 
Beth-el,  who  persuaded  him  to  accept  his  hospitality  on  the  pretext 
that  the  invitation  was  inspired  by  the  word  of  the  Lord.  For 
this  act  of  disobedience  the  man  of  God  is  slain  by  a  lion  on  the 


194  I    KINGS  13.  2.     Z 

by  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Beth-el :  and  Jeroboam 

2  was  standing  by  the  altar  to  burn  incense.     And  he  cried 

against  the  altar  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  said, 

way  home,  and  is  afterwards  buried  in  the  grave  of  the  prophet 
who  had  led  him  astray,  verses  Ti-32. 

The  whole  story,  but  especially  the  latter  part,  is  amongst  the 
strangest  in  the  O.  T.  As  indications  of  a  comparatively  late  date 
the  following  facts  are  pointed  out :  (a)  the  anonymity  of  the 
principal  personages  ;  i^b)  the  anachronism  of  the  reference  to 
Samaria  as  a  province  (verse  32",  whereas  in  the  time  of 
Jeroboam  the  city  itself  was  not  yet  built  (see  xvi.  34)  ;  (c)  the 
specific  and  detailed  prognostication  of  an  unimportant  incident 
350  years  before  fulfilment  (verse  2  ,  which  is  without  analog}^  in 
the  authentic  records  of  Hebrew  prophecy  ;  (d)  the  mechanical 
conception  of  revelation  implied  in  the  hypostatizing  of  the  '  word 
of  the  Lord'  (verses  i,  2,  5,  9,  17,  18,  32^  ;  and  (e)  the  non-ethical 
view  of  the  prophet's  relation  to  his  own  message,  which  is  so 
conspicuous  in  the  latter  part  of  the  chapter.  These  features, 
together  with  traces  of  decadence  in  the  style,  point  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  passage  is  of  late  composition,  and  has  been 
inserted  in  the  book  at  a  time  long  subsequent  to  the  Deuteronomic 
redaction.  What  kernel  of  historic  fact  lies  beneath  the  narrative 
it  is  quite  impossible  to  determine.  Wellhausen's  conjecture  that 
it  arose  out  of  the  mission  of  Amos  to  Beth-el  under  the  second 
Jeroboam  has  little  to  recommend  it  except  its  ingenuity.  More 
probably  it  is  based  on  some  local  tradition  which  came  to  light 
at  the  time  when  Josiah  destroyed  the  sanctuary  of  Beth- el 
(a  Kings  xxiii.  16-18). 

1.  117  the  word  of  the  IiOBD.  The  idea  that  the  word  of 
Yahweh  as  uttered  by  a  prophet  possesses  a  self-fulfilling  energy 
is  a  genuine  element  of  the  prophetic  theology  (see  Isa.  ix.  8,  &c.)  ; 
but  the  representation  throughout  this  chapter  goes  much  further. 
The  'word'  is  conceived  as  a  real  mediating  agency  in  the 
prophet's  own  intercourse  with  God.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to 
say  that  we  have  here  an  anticipation  of  the  later  doctrine  of  the 
Logos  {Memrd),  as  a  being  intermediate  between  God  and  the 
world. 

2.  See  on  a  Kings  xxiii.  15-20.  Even  the  most  conservativ^e 
commentators  feel  the  difficulty  that  lies  in  the  announcement  of 
Josiah  so  many  centuries  before  his  birth,  and  endeavour  to  get 
rid  of  it  by  deleting  the  proper  name,  or  resolving  it  into  some- 
thing more  general  (Kohler,  Keil,  Klostermann).  But  the 
naming  of  Josiah  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the 
prediction  as  a  whole,  and  nothing  is  gained  by  attempting  to 
minimize  so  marked  a  feature. 


I    KINGS  13.  3-?.     2  ip5 

O  altar,  altar,  thus  saith  the  Lord  :  Behold,  a  child  shall 
be  born  unto  the  house  of  David,  Josiah  by  name ;  and 
upon  thee  shall  he  sacrifice  the  priests  of  the  high  places 
that  burn  incense  upon  thee,  and  men's  bones  shall  they 
burn  upon  thee.     And  he  gave  a  sign  the  same  day,  3 
saying,  This  is  the  sign  which  the  Lord  hath  spoken  : 
Behold,  the  altar  shall  be  rent,  and  the  ashes  that  are 
upon  it  shall  be  poured  out.     And  it  came  to  pass,  when  4 
the  king  heard  the  saying  of  the  man  of  God,  which  he 
cried  against  the  altar  in  Beth-el,  that  Jeroboam  put  forth 
his  hand  from  the  altar,  saying.  Lay  hold  on  him.     And 
his  hand,  which  he  put  forth  against  him,  dried  up,  so 
that  he  could  not  draw  it  back  again  to  him.     The  altar  5 
also  was  rent,  and  the  ashes  poured  out  from  the  altar, 
according  to  the  sign  which  the  man  of  God  had  given 
by  the  word  of  the  Lord.     And  the  king  answered  and  6 
said  unto  the  man  of  God,  Intreat  now  the  favour  of 
the  Lord  thy  God,  and  pray  for  me,  that  my  hand  may 
be  restored  me  again.     And  the  man  of  God  intreated 
the  Lord,  and  the  king's  hand  was  restored  him  again, 
and  became  as  it  was  before.     And  the  king  said  unto  7 
the  man  of  God,  Come  home  with  me,  and  refresh  thy- 
self, and  I  will  give  thee  a  reward.     And  the  man  of  God  8 

3.  the  ashes.  The  Hebrew  word  {desheti  =  'fatness')  denotes 
technically  the  products  of  combustion  of  the  fat  and  flesh  of 
animals  (Jer.  xxxi.  40).  These  had  to  be  carefully  collected  from 
the  altar,  and  deposited  in  a  clean  place  (Lev.  vi.  10,  11,  &c.)  ; 
and  the  neglect  of  this  precaution  would  seem  to  have  been 
equivalent  to  the  desecration  of  the  altar. 

4.  The  withering  of  Jeroboam's  arm  is  an  absolute  miracle, 
which  is  not  to  be  explained  away  as  merely  a  natural  consequence 
of  the  other  miracle— the  rending  of  the  altar. 

6.  Intreat  now  the  favour  :  lit.  'soften  {or,  make  placid)  the 
face,'  i.  e.  *  propitiate '  (Job  xi.  19  ;  i  Sam.  xiii.  12,  and  often). 

7  ff.  illustrate  the  fidelity  of  the  man  of  God  to  his  commission, 
which  is  proof  against  everything  but  downright  deception. 

O    2 


196  I    KINGS  13.  9-14.     Z 

said  unto  the  king,  If  thou  wilt  give  me  half  thine  house, 
I  will  not  go  in  with  thee,  neither  will  I  eat  bread  nor 
9  drink  water  in  this  place :  for  so  was  it  charged  me  by 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  saying,  Thou  shalt  eat  no  bread, 
nor  drink  water,  neither  return  by  the  way  that  thou 

10  camest.  So  he  went  another  way,  and  returned  not  by 
the  way  that  he  came  to  Beth-el. 

1 1  Now  there  dwelt  an  old  prophet  in  Beth-el ;  and  one 
of  his  sons  came  and  told  him  all  the  works  that  the  m.an 
of  God  had  done  that  day  in  Beth-el :  the  words  which 
he  had  spoken  unto  the  king,  them  also  they  told  unto 

12  their  father.  And  their  father  said  unto  them,  What 
way  went  he?     Now  his  sons  had  seen  what  way  the 

1 3  man  of  God  went,  which  came  from  Judah.  And  he 
said  unto  his  sons,  Saddle  me  the  ass.     So  they  saddled 

14  him  the  ass :  and  he  rode  thereon.     And  he  went  after 


8.  If  thonwilt  give:  cf.  the  words  of  Balaam,  Num.  xxii.  18, 
xxiv.  13. 

10.  another  way :  probably  in  order  to  evade  pursuit :  at  any 
rate,  in  scrupulous  compliance  with  his  directions. 

11.  an  old  prophet.  The  distinction  between  'man  of  God' 
and  '  prophet '  (see  on  xii.  22)  is  consistently  maintained  in  the 
remainder  of  the  chapter,  the  former  designation  being  regularly 
used  of  the  Judaean  prophet,  and  the  latter  of  the  Samaritan. 
'  Man  of  God '  is  obviousl}'  regarded  as  the  higher  title,  and 
*  prophet '  as  the  lower  ;  but  wherein  precisely  the  difference  -lies 
does  not  appear.  It  might  conceivably  be  a  reminiscence  of  what 
was  in  the  mind  of  Amos  when  he  repudiated  the  professional 
name  of  udbV  (prophet,  see  Amos  vii,  14).  The  passage  is  written 
to  inculcate  the  duty  of  unswerving  literal  obedience  to  a  Divine 
command  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  lesson  is  conveyed  with 
some  psychological  insight,  though  the  motive  of  the  diabolical 
conduct  of  the  aged  prophet  remains  mysterious. 

one  of  his  sons.    The  text  has  simply  '  his  son  '  (as  marg.), 
but  it  is  necessary  to  read  the  plural,  as  LXX,  &c. 

12.  TStovr  his  sons  had  seen:  marg.  'And  his  sons  shewed 
him.'  This  reading  involves  only  the  change  of  a  single  vowel- 
point,  and  is  undoubtedly  to  be  preferred. 


I   KINGS  13.  15-21.     Z  197 

the  man  of  God,  and  found  him  sitting  under  an  oak : 
and  he  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  the  man  of  God  that 
camest  from  Judah?     And  he  said,   I  am.     Then  he  15 
said  unto  him,  Come  home  with  me,  and  eat  bread. 
And  he  said,  I  may  not  return  with  thee,  nor  go  in  with  16 
thee :  neither  will  I  eat  bread  nor  drink  water  with  thee 
in  this  place:  for  it  was  said  to  me  by  the  word  of  the  17 
Lord,  Thou  shalt  eat  no  bread  nor  drink  water  there, 
nor  turn  again  to  go  by  the  way  that  thou  camest.     And  18 
he  said  unto  him,  I  also  am  a  prophet  as  thou  art ;  and 
an  angel  spake  unto  me  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  saying. 
Bring  him  back  with  thee  into  thine  house,  that  he  may 
eat  bread  and  drink  water.     Buf  he  lied  unto  him.     So  19 
he  went  back  with  him,  and  did  eat  bread  in  his  house, 
and  drank  water.     And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  sat  at  20 
the  table,  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  the 
prophet  that  brought  him  back :  and  he  cried  unto  the  2 1 
man  of  God  that  came  from  Judah,  saying,  Thus  saith 
the  Lord,  Forasmuch  as  thou  hast  been  disobedient 
unto  the  mouth  of  the  Lord,  and  hast  not  kept  the  com- 

14.  an  oak  :  '  the  terebinth  '  fsee  marg.),  possibly  the  one  that 
marked  the  grave  of  Deborah  (Gen.  xxxv.  8). 

16.  The  words  nor  go  in  with  thee,  and  again  with  thee,  are 
wanting  in  the  LXX. 

18.  a  prophet  as  thou  art.  The  speaker  is  naturally  ignorant 
of  the  distinction  referred  to  above  (verse  11). 

an  angel  spake  unto  me.  Angels  first  appear  as  inter- 
mediaries oi prophetic  announcements  in  Ezekiel  and  Zechariah. 

he  lied  unto  him.  The  only  fault  of  the  man  of  God  was 
believing  the  lie,  i.  e.  trusting  the  second-hand  revelation  of 
another  man  rather  than  that  which  had  come  directly  to  himself. 

20.  At  table  the  deceitful  prophet  receives  a  genuine  revelation, 
which  he  is  compelled  to  declare,  it  is  to  be  hoped  with  sincere 
compunction. 

ai.  hast  been  disobedient  unto  ('hast  rebelled  against')  the 
mouth  of  the  LORD.  The  strong  expression  is  similarly  used  of 
the  formal  breach  of  a  positive  command  in  the  case  of  Moses  and 
Aaron  at  Meribah  (Num.  xx.  24,  xxvii.  14). 


i^iS  1    KINGS  13.  22-26.     Z 

mandment  which  the  Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee, 

22  but  earnest  back,  and  hast  eaten  bread  and  drunk  water 
in  the  place  of  the  which  he  said  to  thee,  Eat  no  bread, 
and  drink  no  water ;  thy  carcase  shall  not  come  unto  the 

23  sepulchre  of  thy  fathers.  And  it  came  to  pass,  after  he 
had  eaten  bread,  and  after  he  had  drunk,  that  he  saddled 
for  him  the  ass,  to  zvit,  for  the  prophet  whom  he  had 

24  brought  back.  And  when  he  was  gone,  a  lion  met  him 
by  the  way,  and  slew  him  :  and  his  carcase  was  cast  in  the 
way,  and  the  ass  stood  by  it ;  the  lion  also  stood  by  the 

25  carcase.  And,  behold,  men  passed  by,  and  saw  the  car- 
case cast  in  the  way,  and  the  lion  standing  by  the  car- 
case :  and  they  came  and  told  it  in  the  city  where  the 

26  old  prophet  dwelt.  And  when  the  prophet  that  brought 
him  back  from  the  way  heard  thereof,  he  said.  It  is  the 
man  of  God,  who  was  disobedient  unto  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord  :  therefore  the  Lord  hath  delivered  him  unto  the 


22.  On  the  disgrace  of  being  buried  apart  from  the  family 
sepulchre,  see  the  instance  of  Uriah  (Jer.  xxvi.  23)  :  cf.  Gen. 
xlvii.  30,  1.  25  ;  Isa.  xiv.  18  ff. 

23.  to  wit,  for  the  prophet.  Here  alone  the  man  of  God  from 
Judah  is  called  a  prophet;  but  the  word  is  shown  to  be  a  gloss 
by  the  awkward  construction,  and  by  its  omission  in  the  LXX, 
which  of  the  whole  clause  retains  but  the  single  phrase  '  and  he 
returned.'  This,  along  with  the  first  word  of  the  next  verse, 
means  :  *and  he  departed  again,  [and  a  lion,  &c.].' 

24.  The  effect  of  the  lesson  is  heightened  by  another  miracle  : 
the  lion  and  the  ass  stand  peaceably  together  for  some  hours  over 
the  body  of  the  dead  man.  Klostermann  completely  misunder- 
stands the  spirit  of  the  passage  when  he  tries  to  eliminate  the 
supernatural,  and  makes  the  verse  say  merely  that  the  ass  remained 
and  grazed  and  plucked  herbs  beside  the  corpse ! 

25.  in  the  city  where.  The  vagueness  is  remarkable  ;  it  has 
been  already  said  that  the  old  prophet  dwelt  in  Beth-el.  Kloster- 
mann ingeniously  proposes  to  read  :  *  in  the  gate  where  the  old 
prophet  was  sitting,'  the  gate  being  the  place  of  public  resort, 
where  news  was  discussed. 

26  %  27  arc  wanting  in  the  original  LXX 


I    KINGS  13.  27-34.     ZD  199 

lion,  which  hath  torn  him,  and  slain  him,  according  to 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  unto  him.     And  27 
he  spake  to  his  sons,  saying,  Saddle  me  the  ass.     And 
they  saddled  it.     And  he  went  and  found  his  carcase  28 
cast  in  the  way,  and  the  ass  and  the  lion  standing  by  the 
carcase  :  the  lion  had  not  eaten  the  carcase,  nor  torn  the 
ass.     And  the  prophet  took  up  the  carcase  of  the  man  of  29 
God,  and  laid  it  upon  the  ass,  and  brought  it  back :  and 
he  came  to  the  city  of  the  old  prophet,  to  mourn,  and  to 
bury  him.     And  he  laid  his  carcase  in  his  own  grave;  30 
and  they  mourned  over  him,  sayings  Alas,  my  brother ! 
And  it  came  to  pass,  after  he  had  buried  him,  that  he  31 
spake  to  his  sons,  saying.  When  I  am  dead,  then  bury 
me  in  the  sepulchre  wherein  the  man  of  God  is  buried ; 
lay  my  bones  beside  his  bones.     For  the  saying  which  he  32 
cried  by  the  word  of  the  Lord  against  the  altar  in  Beth- 
el, and  against  all  the  houses  of  the  high  places  which  are 
in  the  cities  of  Samaria,  shall  surely  come  to  pass. 

After  this  thing  Jeroboam  returned  not  from  his  evil  33 
way,  but  made  again  from  among  all  the  people  priests 
of  the  high  places  :  [D]  whosoever  would,  he  consecrated 
him,  that  there  might  be  priests  of  the  high  places.    And  34 

29'',  30".  The  LXX  here  reads  more  tersely,  and  probably  more 
correctly  :  '  and  the  prophet  brought  him  back  to  the  city  to  bury 
him  in  his  own  sepulchre.' 

30^.  Alas,  my  brother  !  the  customarj^  wail  for  the  dead  : 
cf.  Jer.  xxii.  18. 

31,  32.  For  the  fulfilment,  see  2  Kings  xxiii.  16-18, 
thie  cities  of  Samaria.    See  above,  p.  194. 

33*  is  a  repetition  of  the  statement  of  xii.  31,  inserted  by 
the  author  of  the  long  interpolation,  in  order  to  resume  the  main 
narrative. 

33^*,  34  are  the  original  continuation  of  xii.  31,  and  are  from 
the  hand  of  the  compiler. 

consecrated  him  :  lit. '  filled  his  hand,'  the  technical  expres- 
sion for  the  installation  of  a  priest  i^^Exod.  xxviii,  41  ;  Judges  xvii. 
5,  12,  Skc).     The  same  phrase  occurs  in  Assyrian  {fiiuilti  kdtd), 


2og  1    KINGS  14.    1-3.     D  KI 

this  thing  became  sin  unto  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  even 
to  cut  it  off,  and  to  destroy  it  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

14  [KI]  At  that  time  Abijah  the  son  of  Jeroboam  fell 
a  sick.  And  Jeroboam  said  to  his  wife,  Arise,  I  pray  thee, 
and  disguise  thyself,  that  thou  be  not  known  to  be  the 
wife  of  Jeroboam  :  and  get  thee  to  Shiloh  ;  behold,  there 
is  Ahijah  the  prophet,  which  spake  concerning  me  that 
3  I  should  be  king  over  this  people.  And  take  with  thee 
ten  loaves,  and  cracknels,  and  a  cruse  of  honey,  and  go 

with  the  figurative  sense  of  *  putting  one  in  charge  of  something  ' 
(Delitzsch,  Ha>tdiL'drtcrbuch). 

that  there  might  be  priests:    better,    as  LXX,  'and  he' 
(whosoever  would)  '  became  a  priest.'  &c. 

xiv.  1-18.  Sickness  and  Death  of  Abijah  the  Son  of  fcrohoani. 
Jeroboam  sends  his  wife,  disguised  as  a  common  woman,  to  consult 
Ahijah  the  Shilonite  regarding  the  fate  of  their  sick  child.  The 
prophet,  now  an  old  blind  man.  penetrates  her  disguise,  and 
anticipates  her  question  by  foretelling  the  death  of  the  child.  But 
this  is  prefaced  by  a  denunciation  of  the  sin  of  Jeroboam  and 
a  prophecy  of  the  extinction  of  his  whole  house  ;  and  followed  by 
an  announcement  of  the  final  overthrow  of  the  kingdom  he  had 
founded.  The  section  closes  with  an  account  of  the  death  of  the 
child,  in  accordance  with  the  prediction. 

The  passage  in  its  present  form  consists  of  an  ancient  narrative 
inverses  1-6,  12.  17),  recast  and  amplified  by  the  compiler,  whose 
hand  is  clearly  discernible  in  the  phraseology  and  standpoint  of 
verses  7-16  (the  answer  of  Ahijah.  See  the  notes  below  :  and 
observe  the  anachronism  in  verse  9.  *  above  all  that  were  before 
thee.'  On  the  literar}-  coincidences  with  other  prophetic  oracles 
incorporated  in  the  book,  cf.  Driver,  lutrod.^,  p.  194.  On  the  LXX 
version  of  the  incident    in  xii.  24  ?-"),  see  Appendix,  p.  443  f. 

1.  At  that  time  :  a  standing  phrase,  either  of  the  compiler  or 
of  one  of  his  authorities,  in  introducing  a  new  subject ;  2  Kings  xvi. 
6,  xviii.  16,  XX.  12,  xxiv.  10. 

The  name  Abijah,  being  compounded  with  Yahweh,  proves 
that  Jeroboam  was  not  consciously  an  apostate  from  the  national 
religion. 

2.  which  spake  concerning  me :  xi.  296*.  Verse  4  shows  that 
a  considerable  time  had  elapsed  since  then. 

3.  For  the  custom  of  offering  a  present  to  a  prophet,  cf.  i  Sam. 
ix.  7  f .  ;  2  Kings  v.  i^,  viii.  8. 


I    KINGS  14.  4-8.     KID  201 

to  him  :  he  shall  tell  thee  what  shall  become  of  the  child. 
And  Jeroboam's  wife  did  so,  and  arose,  and  went  to  4 
Shiloh,  and  came  to  the  house  of  Ahijah.     Now  Ahijah 
could  not  see ;  for  his  eyes  were  set  by  reason  of  his  age. 
And  the  Lord  said  unto  Ahijah,  Behold,  the  wife  of  5 
Jeroboam  cometh  to  inquire  of  thee  concerning  her  son ; 
for  he  is  sick :  thus  and  thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  her : 
for  it  shall  be,  when  she  cometh  in,  that  she  shall  feign 
herself  to  be  another  woman.     And   it  was  so,  when  6 
Ahijah  heard  the  sound  of  her  feet,  as  she  came  in  at 
the  door,  that  he  said.  Come  in,  thou  wife  of  Jeroboam ; 
why  feignest  thou  thyself  to  be  another?  for  I  am  sent 
to   thee  with  heavy   tidings.     [D]   Go,   tell   Jeroboam,  7 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel :    Forasmuch 
as  I  exalted  thee  from  among  the  people,  and  made  thee 
prince  over  my  people  Israel,  and   rent   the  kingdom  8 
away  from  the  house  of  David,  and  gave  it  thee :  and  yet 
thou  hast  not  been  as  my  servant  David,  who  kept  my 
commandments,  and  who  followed  me  with  all  his  heart, 


cracknels :  probably  small  cakes.  The  LXX  (xii.  24'')  adds 
here  the  homely  touch  '  for  his  children.' 

4.  his  eyes  were  set:  'fixed' ;  cf.  i  Sam.  iv,  15. 

5.  For  said  read  'had  said.'  As  in  i  Sam.  ix.  15  fT.  the  prophet 
had  been  prepared  for  the  arrival  of  his  visitor  by  a  Divine  pre- 
monition. 

for  it  shall  toe.  A  better  construction  is  supported  by  the 
LXX,  which  at  this  point  resumes  the  narrative  :  *  And  when  she 
came  in,  disguising  herself,  and  when  Ahijah  heard,'  &c. 

6.  why  feignest  thou.  The  LXX  has  a  reading  more  appropriate 
in  the  connexion  :  '  why  dost  thou  bring  me  bread  ? ' 

for  I  am  sent.  Render,  'seeing  I  am  sent  to  thee  with  hard 
tidings.* 

7-11  are  wholly  the  work  of  the  compiler;  the  original  answer 
of  the  prophet  is  contained  in  verse  12,  which  in  the  LXX  (xii. 
24*)  follows  immediately  the  question  of  verse  6. 

8.  For  David  as  the  ideal  of  piety,  see  iii.  3,  6,  ix.  4,  xi.  4. 
6,  and  often. 


202  I   KINGS  11.  9-13.     DKID 

«;  to  do  that  only  which  was  right  in  mine  eyes ;  but  hast 
done  evil  above  all  that  were  before  thee,  and  hast  gone 
and  made  thee  other  gods,  and  molten  images,  to  pro- 
voke me  to  anger,  and  hast  cast  me  behind  thy  back  : 

10  therefore,  behold,  I  will  bring  evil  upon  the  house  of 
Jeroboam,  and  will  cut  off  from  Jeroboam  every  man 
child,  him  that  is  shut  up  and  him  that  is  left  at  large  in 
Israel,  and  will  utterly  sweep  away  the  house  of  Jeroboam, 

ri  as  a  man  sweepeth  away  dung,  till  it  be  all  gone.  Him 
that  dieth  of  Jeroboam  in  the  city  shall  the  dogs  eat ; 
and  him  that  dieth  in  the  field  shall  the  fowls  of  the  air 

12  eat:  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.  [KI]  Arise  thou 
therefore,  get  thee  to  thine  house :    and  when  thy  feet 

1 3  enter  into  the  city,  the  child  shall  die.  [D]  And  all 
Israel  shall  mourn  for  him,  and  bury  him;  for  he  only 
of  Jeroboam  shall  come  to  the  grave :  because  in  him 

rig'ht  in  mine  eyes:  as  xi.  33,  38,  xv.  5,  ii,  &c.  ;  cf.  Deut. 
xii.  25,  xiii.  18,  &c. 

9.  Cf.  Deut.  iv.  25,  ix.  18,  xxxi.  29. 

all  that  were  before  thee  :  cf.  xvi.  ^5,  30.  The  stereotyped 
phrase  has  little  force  as  applied  to  Jeroboam,  who  had  no  pre- 
decessors, and  was  the  originator  of  the  chief  sin  denounced. 

10.  every  man  child  :  avoiding  the  coarseness  of  the  original 
proverbial  expression,  preserved  in  the  A.  V.  (cf.  xvi.  11,  xxi.  21  ; 
2  Kings  ix.  8;   i  Sam.  xxv.  22,  34% 

him  that  is  shut  up  .  .  .  large :  *  the  fettered  and  the  free/  an 
alliterative  expression,  as  xxi.  21 ;  2  Kings  ix.  8,xiv.  26 ;  Deut.  xxxii. 
36.  The  primary  sense  of  the  categories  is  obscure.  Some  take 
the  ^  fettered  '  to  be  children  in  statu  pupillari ;  others,  those  who 
are  married ;  Ewald  and  W.  R,  Smith  {Ret.  of  Sem.^,  p.  456) 
consider  it  to  be  a  ritual  term  denoting  those  debarred  from  religious 
privileges :  on  any  view  the  '  free '  will  include  all  other  males, 
(A  more  recent  interpretation  by  Yahuda  in  ZA,  1902,  240  AT. ) 

11.  the  dogs:  the  scavengers  of  oriental  cities:  2  Kings  ix.  35  ff. 
fowls  of  the  air  :  carrion-eating  birds,  like  the  vulture. 

12.  More  graphically  in  the  LXX  (xii.  24  ')  :  '  Behold  thou 
shalt  depart  from  mc,  and  as  thou  enterest  the  gate  of  Sarcira  thy 
maidens  shall  come  out  to  meet  thcc,  and  shall  say  to  thee.  The 
little  boy  is  dead.' 


I    KINGS  14.  14-17.     DKI  203 

there  is  found  some  good  thing  toward  the  Lord,  the 
God  of  Israel,  in  the  house  of  Jeroboam.     Moreover  the  14 
Lord  shall  raise  him  up  a  king  over  Israel,  who  shall  cut 
off  the  house  of  Jeroboam  that  day :  biit  what?  even  now. 
For  the  Lord  shall  smite  Israel,  as  a  reed  is  shaken  in  15 
the  water;  and  he  shall  root  up  Israel  out  of  this  good 
land,  which  he  gave  to  their  fathers,  and  shall  scatter 
them  beyond  the  River ;  because  they  have  made  their 
Asherim,  provoking  the  Lord  to  anger.     And  he  shall  16 
give  Israel  up  because  of  the  sins  of  Jeroboam,  which  he 
hath  sinned,  and  wherewith  he  hath  made  Israel  to  sin. 
[KI]  And  Jeroboam's  wife  arose,  and  departed,  and  came  17 
to  Tirzah  :  wid  as  she  came  to  the  threshold  of  the  house, 

13.  some  g-ood  thing":  some  promise  of  early  piety.  The 
Rabbis,  after  their  manner,  clothe  the  statement  in  a  legend  : 
Abijah  was  ordered  by  his  father  to  keep  watch  for  any  who  might 
go  up  to  the  feasts  to  Jerusalem,  and  he  not  only  did  not  do  this 
but  tore  down  a  barrier  which  Jeroboam  had  set  up  to  prevent 
such  pilgrimages  !  (quoted  by  Thenius). 

14.  See  XV.  29. 

that  day :  "but  what  ?  even  now.  The  Hebrew  is  quite  un- 
translatable. There  is  also  some  defect  in  the  beginning  of  the 
following  verse.  Kittel  gives  a  conjectural  reconstruction  which 
meets  both  difficulties  :  '  in  that  da3^  And  even  then  (15)  will 
Yahweh  smite  Israel,  so  that  it  sways  as  the  reed,'  &c.  ;  an 
allusion  to  the  repeated  changes  of  dynasty  that  marked  the 
history  of  the  northern  kingdom  down  to  the  Exile,  which  is 
foretold  in  what  follows.  The  grammar  is  not  quite  satisfactory' ; 
but  the  sense  is  certainly  attractive. 

15.  For  the  threat  of  exile,  see  Deut.  iv.  26 ff.,  vi.  15,  xxix. 
28,  &c. 

Asherim.    See  on  verse  23. 

16.  wherewith  he  hath  made  Israel  to  sin:  a  constantly 
recurring  formula  of  the  compiler  :  xv.  26,  30,  34,  &c. 

17.  Tirzah  was  for  the  next  few  reigns  the  residence  of  the 
kings  of  Israel;  xv.  21,  xvi.  15  ff.,  &c.  The  indications  seem  to 
point  to  its  being  in  the  neighbourliood  of  Shechem,  but  the  site  is 
not  known.  Some  have  sought  it  in  the  ruins  of  TaUuza,  a  few 
miles  north-cast  of  Nabulus  ;  others  at  et-Tire  on  the  west  side  of 
Gerizim  (Buhl,  Geog.  p.  203). 

to  the  threshold  .  .  .  died.    LXX  (xii.  24 '')  makes  the  death 


204  I    KINGS  14.  18-23.     KID 

18  the  child  died.  [D]  And  all  Israel  buried  him,  and 
mourned  for  him ;  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
which  he  spake  by  the  hand  of  his  servant  Ahijah  the 

19  prophet.  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jeroboam,  how 
he  warred,  and  how  he  reigned,  behold,  they  are  written 
in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel. 

20  And  the  days  which  Jeroboam  reigned  were  two  and 
twenty  years :  and  he  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  Nadab 
his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

21  And  Rehoboam  the  son  of  Solomon  reigned  in  Judah. 
Rehoboam  was  forty  and  one  years  old  when  he  began 
to  reign,  and  he  reigned  seventeen  years  in  Jerusalem, 
the  city  which  the  Lord  had  chosen  out  of  all  the 
tribes  of  Israel,  to  put  his  name  there  :  and  his  mother's 

2  3  name  was  Naamah  the  Ammonitess.  And  Judah  did 
that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  ;  and  they 
provoked  him  to  jealousy  with   their   sins  which  they 

23  committed,  above  all  that  their  fathers  had  done.  For 
they  also  built  them  high  places,  and  pillars,  and  Asherim, 


synchronize  with  her  entrance  into  the  city,  adding :  '  and  the 
wail  came  out  to  meet  her.' 

xiv.  19,  20.     Concluding  Notice  on  Jeroboam. 
19.  how  hie  warred.    See  verse  30,  xv.  7. 
the  hook  of  the  chronicles  :  see  Introd.  p.  23. 

xiv.  21-31.  Rehoboam  of  Judah.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  xi.  5 — xii.  16. 

xiv.  21-24.     Editorial  Introduction. 

21.  The  LXX  (B)  of  xii.  24*  gives  the  age  of  Rehoboam  at  his 
accession  as  sixteen,  and  the  length  of  his  reign  as  twelve  years. 

his  mother's  name.  The  naming  of  the  queen-mother  is 
a  regular  feature  of  the  notices  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  due  to  her 
dignity  and  influence  at  the  court  (see  on  ii.  13,  and  cf.  xv.  13). 

23.  pillars  (Heb.  mazzeboth).  The  Mazzebah  was  a  sacred 
stone,  and  seems  to  have  been  an  indispensable  adjunct  of  the 
primitive  Semitic  sanctuary.  Originally  it  was  regarded  as  the 
abode  of  the  Deity,  and  at  the  same  time  (before  the  introduction 


I    KINGS  14.  24,  35.     DKJ  205 

on  every  high  hill,  and  under  every  green  tree ;   and  24 
there  were  also  sodomites  in  the  land  :  they  did  according 
to  all  the  abominations  of  the  nations  which  the  Lord 
drave  out  before  the  children  of  Israel.     [KJ]  And  it  25 

of  fire  sacrifices)  served  the  purpose  of  an  altar ;  afterwards,  when 
a  separate  altar  became  necessary,  the  stone  was  retained  as  a 
symbol  of  the  God  (W.  R.  Smith,  Rel.  of  Sem?,  p.  203  fT.).  The 
use  of  the  emblem  was  tolerated  in  Israel  in  early  times  (Gen. 
xxviii.  18,  22,  xxxi.  13,  xxxv,  14,  20,  &c.),  but  prohibited  by  the 
later  legislation  on  account  of  its  ineradicable  associations  with 
heathenism  (Deut.  vii.  5,  xii.  13  ;  Lev.  xxvi.  i,  «&c.). 

Asherlm  :  plur.  of  asherdh,  which  seems  to  have  been  a 
survival  of  the  sacred  tree,  as  the  mazzebah  was  of  the  sacred 
stone  (for  another  view  see  Barton,  Semitic  Otiginsj  pp.  106,  248). 
It  was  a  wooden  pole  (Judges  vi.  26),  the  trunk  of  a  tree  stripped 
of  its  branches  (Deut.  xvi.  21),  erected  by  the  side  of  the  altar 
(Jer.  xvii.  2).  It  would  seem  that  from  very  ancient  times  (Tel- 
Amarna  tablets)  the  object  had  been  personified,  and  the  word 
used  as  the  name  of  a  goddess  (xv.  i3,xviii.  19;  2Kingsxxiii.4,  &c.), 
who  is  apparently  in  the  O.  T.  sometimes  identified  with  Ashtoreth 
(cf.  Judges  ii.  13  with  iii.  7).  This  marked  association  of  the 
symbol  with  a  female  deity  made  it  at  all  times  repugnant  to  the 
true  religion  of  Israel 

on  every  hig-li  hill  .  .  .  tree :  cf.  2  Kings  xvi.  4,  xvii.  10  ; 
Deut.  xii.  2  ;  Jer.  ii.  20,  iii.  6,  xvii.  2. 

24.  sodomites  (Heb.  kddes/i,  holy  persons) :  temple  prostitutes, 
attached  to  heathen  sanctuaries,  of  Ashtoreth  especially,  but 
introduced  in  Israel  into  the  worship  of  Yahweh  (Deut.  xxiii.  17, 
18,  &c.).  The  word  is  here  used  collectively,  including  persons 
of  both  sexes. 

drave  out :  xxi.  26 ;  2  Kings  xvi.  3,  xvii.  8,  xxi.  2 ;  Deut. 
ix.  4,  5,  &c. 

xiv.  25-28,  The  Expedition  of  Shishak.  The  account  is  taken 
from  the  annals  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  ;  and  the  prominence 
given  to  the  incident  is  perhaps  due  less  to  its  political  importance 
than  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  step  in  the  gradual  impover- 
ishment of  the  temple,  the  successive  stages  of  which  are  carefully 
noted  throughout  the  book  (see  xv.  18 ;  2  Kings  xii.  18,  xiv.  14,  xvi.  8, 
17,  xviii.  15  f.,  xxiv.  13,  xxv.  9,  13  ff.).  The  former  friendship 
between  Jeroboam  and  Shishak  naturally  suggests  that  the  raid 
was  undertaken  for  the  benefit  of  Jeroboam,  and  affected  only  Judah. 
It  is  true  that  the  Egyptian  lists  in  the  temple  of  Amon  at  Karnak 
contain  the  names  of  more  than  sixty  Ephraimitic  cities  that  paid 
tribute  to  .Shishak,  along  with  a  still  greater  number  of  Judaean. 


2p6  I    KINGS  14.  26-29.     KJD 

came  to  pass  in  the  fifth  year  of  king  Rehoboam,  that 

26  Shishak  king  of  Egypt  came  up  against  Jerusalem :  and 
he  took  away  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house ;  he  even  took 
away  all :  and  he  took  away  all  the  shields  of  gold  which 

27  Solomon  had  made.  And  king  Rehoboam  made  in  their 
stead  shields  of  brass,  and  committed  them  to  the  hands 
of  the  captains  of  the  guard,  which  kept  the  door  of  the 

28  king's  house.  And  it  was  so,  that  as  oft  as  the  king 
went  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  the  guard  bare  them, 
and    brought    them    back    into    the    guard    chamber. 

29  [Dj  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Rehoboam,  and  all  that 

Amongst  the  former  are  Taanach,  Megiddo,  and  Shunem  on  the 
Plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  perhaps  Penuel  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan 
(cf.  xii.  25),  It  is  pointed  out,  however,  by  Maspero  and  W.  Max 
MuUer  that  '  it  is  only  the  second  half  of  the  list  which  contains 
details  pointing  to  actual  conquest,  and  these  seem  to  belong  to 
Judah '  ;  the  inference  being  that  '  the  tribute  which  the  Pharaoh 
claimed  everywhere  was  promptly  given  by  Jeroboam  .  .  .  ;  in 
Judah  it  had  to  be  exacted  by  force.'  It  is  not  improbable  that  for 
a  time  both  Judah  and  Israel  became  tributary  to  Egypt.  (See 
further,  Driver,  A  ttthority  and  Archaeology, p.  87  f. ;  W  .Max  Muller, 
Asien  und  Europa,  p,  166  ;  and  EB,  iv.  c.  4485  ff.) 

25.  SMshak.  The  consonantal  text  has  the  form  Shoshak,  in 
closer  correspondence  with  the  Egyptian  Shoshenq.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  twenty-second  (Bubastite)  dynasty,  and  is  supposed 
to  have  reigned  c.  950  B.  c. 

28.  tlie  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  IiOBD.    See  vii.  51. 
the   shields   of  grold:    x.    17.      Instead  of  these  the  LXX 
mentions  the  shields  taken  by   David  from  the  Syrians,  v/hose 
removal  by  Shishak  it  also  notices   by  anticipation   in   2   Sam. 
viii.  7, 

27.  the  guard:  ///.  'the  runners'  (marg.),  i.e.  footguards. 
Their  duty  is  to  guard  the  palace  and  the  king's  person  (i.  5  ; 
2  Kings  X.  25,  xi.  4,  11,  19). 

28.  The  use  of  the  new  shields  was  no  doubt  the  same  as  that 
of  those  they  had  replaced,  although  the  former  are  kept  in  the 
guard  chamber  instead  of  the  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon 
(X.  17). 

XV,  29-31.  Concluding  Notice,  in  which,  however,  is  imbedded 
a  fragment  from  the  annals  of  the  kingdom  (verse  30).     See  on 


I    KINGS  14.  30—15.  5.     D  207 

he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles 
of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?  And  there  was  war  between  30 
Rehoboam  and  Jeroboam  continually.  And  Rehoboam  31 
slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  with  his  fathers 
in  the  city  of  David  :  and  his  mother's  name  was  Naamah 
the  Ammonitess.  And  Abijam  his  son  reigned  in  his 
stead. 

Now  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  king  Jeroboam  the  son  15 
of  Nebat  began  Abijam  to  reign  over  Judah.     Three  2 
years  reigned  he  in  Jerusalem  :  and  his  mother's  name 
was  Maacah  the  daughter  of  Abishalom.     And  he  walked  3 
in  all  the  sins  of  his  father,  which  he  had  done  before 
him  :  and  his  heart  was  not  perfect  with  the  Lord  his 
God,  as  the  heart  of  David  his  father.     Nevertheless  for  4 
David's  sake  did  the  Lord  his  God  give  him  a  lamp  in 
Jerusalem,  to  set  up  his  son  after  him,  and,  to  establish 
Jerusalem  :  because  David  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  5 

xii.  21  ff.     The  mention  of  the  queen-mother  is  here  out  of  place, 
and  is  rightly  omitted  in  2  Chron.  xii.  i6,  and  by  the  LXX. 

XV.  1-8.     Abijam  of  Judah.     (Cf.  2  Chron.  xiii.) 
The  account  of  the  three  years'  reign  is  wholly  from  the  pen  of 
the  compiler,  verses  1-5  being  the  introductory  formula  (slightly 
expanded),  and  verses  7,  8  the  concluding  formula.     Verse  6  is  an 
interpolation. 

1.  Abijam:  so  always  in  Kings  (xiv.  31),  while  Chronicles 
(  2  Chron.  xiii.  i  fF.,  &c.)  and  the  LXX  give  the  name  as  '•  Abijah.' 
The  ending  -dm  or  -6m  is  not  uncommon  in  proper  names  ;  and  it 
is  possible  that  the  two  are  distinct,  the  chronicler  having  inadver- 
tently substituted  the  more  familiar  form. 

2.  Three  years :  according  to  the  LXX,  six  years  (see  on 
verse  9). 

Maacah  the  daughter  of  Abishalom.  Abishalom  is  the  same 
as  Absalom  (2  Chron.  xi.  20  ff.),  and  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose 
that  the  third  son  of  David  is  meant.  A  daughter  of  Absalom 
must  certainly  have  been  older  than  Rehoboam;  and  Josephus 
{Ant.  viii.  249)  makes  Maacah  the  daughter  of  Tamar  (2  Sam.  xiv. 
27),  taking  daughter  here  in  the  sense  of  'granddaughter.' 
4.  See  on  xi.  36. 


2o8  I    KINGS  15.  6-11.     DZD 

eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  turned  not  aside  from  any  thing 
that  he  commanded  him  all  the  days  of  his  life,  [Z]  save 

6  only  in  the  matter  of  Uriah  the  Hittite.  Now  there  was 
war  between  Rehoboam  and  Jeroboam  all  the  days  of 

7  his  life.  [D]  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Abijam,  and  all 
that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the 
chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?     And  there  was  war 

8  between  Abijam  and  Jeroboam.  And  Abijam  slept  with 
his  fathers ;  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of  David : 
and  Asa  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

9  And  in  the  twentieth  year  of  Jeroboam  king  of  Israel 

10  began  Asa  to  reign  over  Judah.  And  forty  and  one 
years  reigned  he  in  Jerusalem :  and  his  mother's  name 

11  was  Maacah  the  daughter  of  Abishalom.     And  Asa  did 

5.  save  only  in  tlie  matter.  The  eulogy  of  David  is  never  thus 
qualified  by  the  compiler;  and  since  the  clause  is  wanting  in  the 
LXX,  it  ought  probably  to  be  deleted  as  the  note  of  an  over- 
scrupulous reader. 

6.  also  omitted  by  the  LXX,  is  a  mistaken  repetition  of  xiv.  30. 

7.  there  was  war.  The  notice  would  have  come  properly  in  the 
place  of  verse  6,  since  as  a  matter  of  fact  no  '  acts  '  of  Abijam  have 
been  recorded  at  all. 

XV.  9-24.     Asa  0/ Judah.     {Cf.  2  Chron.  xiv~xvi.) 

XV.  9  -15.  Introductory  Formula.  Here  the  compiler  has  worked 
into  the  '  framework '  some  fragmentary  notices  of  religious 
reforms  carried  out  by  Asa.  Asa  is  one  of  the  few  kings  of  Judah 
on  whom  an  entirely  favourable  judgement  is  passed. 

0.  the  twentieth  year  :  cf.  the  statement  with  verses  i,  2  for  an 
illustration  of  the  chronological  method  followed  by  the  author  of 
the  synchronism  (see  Introd.  p.  40).  The  LXX  puts  the  acces- 
sion of  Asa  in  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  Jeroboam,  showing  that 
its  reading  in  verse  2  was  not  an  accidental  error,  but  a  sj'stematic 
correction  ;  note  also  its  peculiar  method  of  calculating  the  syn- 
chronism. 

10.  Maacah.  See  on  verse  2.  If  the  statement  be  strictly  ac- 
curate in  both  places,  Asa  must  have  been  the  brother  and  not  the 
son  of  Abijam  ;  and  so  Wellhausen  proposes  to  read  in  verse  8. 
But  it  is  perhaps  an  easier  explanation  to  suppose  that  Maacah, 
though  not  literally  the  mother  of  Asa,  continued  to  occupy  the 


I    KINGS  15.  i^-i6.     DKJ  209 

that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  as  did 
David  his  father.    And  he  put  away  the  sodomites  out  of  12 
the  land,  and  removed  all  the  idols  that  his  fathers  had 
made.     And  also  Maacah  his  mother  he  removed  from  13 
being  queen,  because  she  had  made  an  abominable  image 
for  an  Asherah ;  and  Asa  cut  down  her  image,  and  burnt 
it  at  the  brook  Kidron.     But  the  high  places  were  not  14 
taken  away :   nevertheless  the  heart  of  Asa  was  perfect 
with  the  Lord  all  his  days.     And  he  brought  into  the  15 
house  of  the  Lord  the  things  that  his  father  had  dedi- 
cated, and  the  things  that  himself  had  dedicated,  silver, 
and  gold,  and  vessels.     [KJ]  And  there  was  war  between  16 

official  position  of  queen-mother  after  the  short  reign  of  her  son 
Abijam. 

12.  See  on  xiv.  24. 

13.  For  queen  read  'queen-mother  '  (as  marg.). 

an  abominable  imagfe.  The  root  of  the  Hebrew  word  ex- 
presses the  idea  of  horror ;  but  what  kind  of  object  is  indicated 
cannot  be  determined.  That  it  was  a  mere  covering  or  adornment 
for  the  sacred  pole  (see  on  xiv.  23)  is  hardly  conceivable.  The 
Vulg.  takes  it  to  have  been  a  phallic  emblem  ;  and  this,  though  un- 
supported by  the  other  versions,  is  perhaps  the  best  conjecture  that 
can  be  hazarded,  so  long  as  we  adhere  to  the  common  sense  of 
Asherah  as  the  name  of  the  sacred  pole.  If,  however,  we  take 
Asherah  as  a  proper  name,  it  is  possible  to  explain  the  objection- 
able thing  as  an  image  of  the  goddess  so  named,  or  her  equivalent 
Astarte.     (See  W.  R.  Smith,  Rel.  ofSem?,  p.  456.) 

14.  The  retention  of  the  high  places  (for  which  the  writer 
blames  not  the  king  but  the  people)  was  an  offence  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  DeuLeronomic  reformation  ;  but  was  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  highest  standard  of  religious  conduct  in  the 
time  of  Asa.  The  centralization  of  the  cultus  in  Jerusalem  was 
a  prophetic  ideal  whicli  had  probably  not  yet  dawned  on  even  the 
most  enlightened  worshippers  of  Yahweh. 

15.  The  statement  is  unintelligible.  It  looks  like  a  misplaced 
duplicate  of  vii.  5^^ 

XV.  16-22.  War  with  Baasha  of  Israel.  The  protracted  hostili- 
ties between  Judah  and  Israel  reach  a  crisis,  in  which  Asa  is  driven 
to  seek  assistance  from  the  king  of  Damascus  ;  and  thus  lead  to 
a  second  inroad  on  the  temple  treasures  i^cf.  xiv.  26).    The  passage 

P 


2io  I    KINGS  15.  1.7-19.     KJ 

1 7  Asa  and  Baasha  king  of  Israel  all  their  days.  And  Baasha 
king  of  Israel  went  up  against  Judah,  and  built  Ramah, 
that  he  might  not  suffer  any  to  go  out  or  come  in  to  Asa 

18  king  of  Judah.  Then  Asa  took  all  the  silver  and  the 
gold  that  were  left  in  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house,  and  delivered 
them  into  the  hand  of  his  servants :  and  king  Asa  sent 
them  to  Ben-hadad,  the  son  of  Tabrimmon,  the  son  of 
Hezion,  king  of  Syria,  that  dwelt  at  Damascus,  saying, 

19  There  is  a  league  between  me  and  thee,  between  my 
father  and  thy  father:  behold,  I  have  sent  unto  thee 
a  present  of  silver  and  gold ;  go,  break  thy  league  with 
Baasha  king  of  Israel,  that  he  may  depart   from  me. 


may  have  been  transferred  intact  from  the  official  annals  of 
Judah. 

16.  Cf.  xiv.  30,  XV'.  7. 

17.  built  (or  '  fortified  ')  Ramah.  The  place  here  meant  is  the 
modern  er-Rdm^  five  miles  due  north  of  Jerusalem.  Since  we 
find  in  verse  22  that  Asa  made  no  attempt  at  the  end  of  the  war  to 
push  the  frontier  further  north,  we  may  assume  that  at  tliis  time 
Ramah  was  just  on  the  border  of  Baasha's  kingdom.  It  was  at 
the  same  time  near  enough  to  Jerusalem  to  make  its  permanent 
occupation  by  a  hostile  army  a  serious  menace  to  the  security 
of  the  southern  kingdom. 

18.  Cf.  the  incident,  2  Kings  xvi.  7  ff. 
all  the  silver  .  .  .  left :  cf.  xiv.  26. 

Ben-hadad.  On  different  forms  of  the  name,  see  on  xx.  i.  The 
grandfather  of  Ben-hadad  must  take  us  back  to  near  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Aramaean  kingdom,  recorded  in  xi.  24.  Hence  it  was 
supposed  (by  Thenius  and  others)  that  Hezion  here  and  Rezon  in 
xi.  23  are  the  same  person,  both  names  being  corruptions  of  an 
original  form  Hezron.  Winckler,  on  the  other  hand,  argues  that 
the  correct  reading  here  is  Hazael,  and  that  Hezion  has  arisen 
from  an  attempt  to  combine  this  with  Rezon  {A litest.  Unters. 
p.  60  ff,^.     But  neither  hypothesis  has  much  plausibility. 

19.  ^  There  is ' :  the  marg. '  let  there  be '  is  manifestly  impossible. 
a  leagne:     'a   covenant.'       The    kings    of   Damascus    had 

evidently  been  playing  the  usual  double  game  in  Palestinian 
politics,  allying  themselves  now  with  Judah  and  now  with  Israel, 
according  to  the  passing  advantage  of  Ihc  hour. 


I    KINGS  15.  20-23.     KJD  211 

And  Ben-hadad  hearkened  unto  king  Asa,  and  sent  the  20 
captains  of  his  armies  against  the  cities  of  Israel,  and 
smote  Ijon,  and  Dan,  and  Abel-beth-maacah,  and  all 
Chinneroth,  with  all  the  land  of  Naphtali.     And  it  came  21 
to  pass,  when  Baasha  heard   thereof,   that   he   left  off 
building  of  Ramah^  and  dwelt  in  Tirzah.     Then  king  23 
Asa  made  a  proclamation  unto  all  Judah;    none  was 
exempted :  and  they  carried  away  the  stones  of  Ramah, 
and  the  timber  thereof,  wherewith  Baasha  had  builded ; 
and  king  Asa  built  therewith  Geba  of  Benjamin,  and 
Mizpah.     [D]  Now  the  rest  of  all  the  acts  of  Asa,  and  23 
all  his  might,  and  all  that  he  did,  and  the  cities  which 

20.  The  district  ravaged  by  the  Syrians  is  in  the  extreme 
north  of  Western  Palestine. 

Dan,  the  best- known  of  the  cities,  is  generally  identified  with 
Tell  el- Kadi-,  at  the  source  of  the  Ledddn^  the  middle  confluent  of  the 
Jordan. 

Abel-beth-maacah  is  recognized  in  the  name  ^Abil,  a  few  miles 
further  west;  while  Ijon  is  supposed  to  have  been  situated  further 
north  in  the  Merj  'Ayun,  a  narrow  plain  between  the  valleys  of 
the  Litani  and  the  upper  Jordan. 

Chinneroth  is  the  old  name  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  (Num. 
xxxiv.  II,  &c.),  and  also  of  a  town  on  its  western  shore  (Joshua 
xix.  35)  ;  here  all  Chinneroth  seems  to  denote  the  fertile  plain 
now  called  el-Ghuwer. 
On  Naphtali,  cf.  iv.  15. 

21.  dwelt  in  Tirzah:  LXX,  Meturned  to  Tirzah.'  See  on 
xiv.  17. 

22.  exempted :  the  same  word  as  Num.  xxxii.  22  (E.  V. 
'  guiltless ')  and  Deut.  xxiv.  5  (R.  V.  '  free  ').  The  places  fortified 
by  Asa  must  be  supposed  within  the  territory  of  Judah. 

Geba  of  Benjamin  can  hardly  be  the  modern  Jeba,  which 
is  a  little  further  north  than  Ramah  ;  rather  Tell-el-Ful  ( =  Gibeah 
of  Saul,  cf.  Isa.  x.  29),  about  halfway  between  Jerusalem  and 
Ramah. 

Mizpah  is  en-Nebi  Santwtl  (the  prophet  Samuel),  a  little  to  the 
west,  the  highest  point  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem. 

XV.  23,  24.  Conclitding  Formula  (enclosing  another  sentence 
from  the  annals,  referring  to  a  disease  of  the  feet  from  which  the 
king  suffered  in  his  old  age). 

23.  all  his  might :  his  heroic  achievements.    No  successes  are 

P  2 


212  I    KINGS  15.  24-27.     DKI 

he  built,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles 
of  the  kings  of  Judah?     But  in  the  time  of  his  old  age 

24  he  was  diseased  in  his  feet.  And  Asa  slept  with  his 
fathers,  and  was  buried  with  his  fathers  in  the  city  of 
David  his  father:  and  Jehoshaphat  his  son  reigned  in 
his  stead. 

25  And  Nadab  the  son  of  Jeroboam  began  to  reign  over 
Israel  in  the  second  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah,  and  he 

26  reigned  over  Israel  two  years.  And  he  did  that  which 
was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  walked  in  the  way 
of  his  father,  and  in  his  sin  wherewith  he  made  Israel  to 

27  sin.  [KI]  And  Baasha  the  son  of  Ahijah,  of  the  house 
of  Issachar,  conspired  against  him;  and  Baasha  smote 
him  at  Gibbethon,  which  belonged  to  the  Philistines; 

attributed    to   Asa  in    Kings :    but  2   Chron.   xiv.    9  ff.    narrates 
a  sensational  victory  over  a  certain  Zerah,  king  of  Ethiopia. 

24.  Jehoshaplxat.    See  xxii.  41. 

XV.  25-32.  Nadab  of  Israel. 
Having  reached  the  last  king  of  Judah  who  came  to  the  throne 
during  the  life  of  Jeroboam,  the  writer  now  turns  to  the  northern 
kingdom,  and  brings  its  history  up  to  the  end  of  the  reign  within 
which  the  death  of  Asa  fell.  Within  this  period  two  revolutions 
took  place,  each  ending  in  the  establishment  of  a  new  dynasty. 
In  the  reign  of  Nadab  the  only  event  thought  worthy  of  record 
is  the  conspiracy  of  Baasha,  which  resulted  in  the  extinction  of 
the  house  of  Jeroboam.  The  narrative  is  partly  in  the  words  of 
the  annalistic  document  (verses  27-29^),  partly  in  those  of  the 
compiler  himself  (29'',  30).  The  introductory  (verses  25,  26)  and 
concluding  (verse  31)  formulas  are  as  bare  and  curt  as  possible. 

25.  the  second  year.  Here  the  mode  of  reckoning  differs 
from  that  usually  employed  by  the  Hebrew  synchronist  (see 
Introd.  p.  41),  the  years  of  Asa's  reign  being  evidently  reckoned 
from  his  first  complete  year,  which  was  the  twenty-first  of  Jero- 
boam :  cf.  verses  i,  2  and  verse  9. 

27.  Gibbethon  appears  from  Joshua  xix.  44,  xxi.  23  to  have 
been  a  frontier  town  of  Dan,  held  at  this  time  by  the  Philistines. 
Since  we  find  it  still  uncaptured  twenty-four  years  later  (xvi.  15), 
it  must  have  played  as  great  a  part  in  the  wars  with  the  Philistines 
as  Ramoth-Gilead  afterwards  did  in  those  with  Damascus.     The 


I    KINGS  15.  28-3?.     KIDZD  213 

for  Nadab  and  all  Israel  were  laying  siege  to  Gibbethon. 
Even  in  the  third  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah  did  Baasha  28 
slay  him,  and  reigned  in  his  stead.     And  it  came  to  pass  29 
that,  as  soon  as  he  was  king,  he  smote  all  the  house  of 
Jeroboam ;   he  left  not  to  Jeroboam  any  that  breathed, 
until  he  had  destroyed  him ;    [D]  according  unto  the 
saying  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  by  the  hand  of  his 
servant  Ahijah  the  Shilonite :   for  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  30 
which  he  sinned,  and  wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin ; 
because  of  his  provocation  wherewith  he  provoked  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  to  anger.     Now  the  rest  of  the  31 
acts  of  Nadab,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written 
in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ? 
[Z]  And  there  was  war  between  Asa  and  Baasha  king  32 
of  Israel  all  their  days. 

[D]  In  the  third  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah  began  33 
Baasha  the  son  of  Ahijah  to  reign  over  all  Israel  in  Tir- 

fact  that  the  rebellion  broke  out  in  the  camp  suggests  that  Baasha, 
like  Omri,  may  have  been  the  commander  of  the  army;  but  this 
is  not  directly  affirmed. 

29,  30.  The  usurper  puts  to  death  the  whole  family  of  his 
predecessor ;  and  in  this  the  compiler  recognizes  the  fulfilment  of 
the  prophecy  of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite,  xiv.  14. 

32  repeats  verse  16,  but  is  clearly  out  of  place  in  the  account 
of  Nadab's  reign,  and  should  probably  be  omitted,  as  by  the  LXX. 

XV.  33 — xvi.  7.     Baasha  of  Israel. 

In  this  section  the  usual  framework  is  supplemented  by  an  oracle 
uttered  against  Baasha  and  his  house  by  a  prophet  named  Jehu, 
which  obviously  could  not  have  found  a  place  in  the  annals  of 
the  kingdom.  It  occurs,  in  fact,  in  two  forms  :  the  first  (xvi.  1-4) 
is  in  the  style  of  the  compiler  himself;  while  the  second  (verse  7) 
shows  no  trace  of  having  passed  through  his  hands,  and  must  be 
regarded  as  a  later  addition  to  the  book. 

33.  the  third  year.  Referring  back  to  verse  25,  we  see  that 
the  two  years  of  Nadab's  reign  are  both  fractional  parts  of  a  year  ; 
his  first  being  that  in  which  he  became  king,  and  his  second  that 
in  which  he  was  slain. 

begtin  to    .  .    .    reig'u,    and    reigned  :    a  zeugma,,   the   one 


214  I    KINGS  15.  34—16.  6.     D 

34  zah,  rt;/^  reigned  twenty  and  four  years.  And  he  did  that 
which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  walked  in 
the  way  of  Jeroboam,  and  in  his  sin  wherewith  he  made 

16  Israel  to  sin.     And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Jehu 

2  the  son  of  Hanani  against  Baasha,  saying,  Forasmuch 
as  I  exalted  thee  out  of  the  dust,  and  made  thee  prince 
over  my  people  Israel ;  and  thou  hast  walked  in  the  way 
of  Jeroboam,  and  hast  made  my  people  Israel  to  sin,  to 

3  provoke  me  to  anger  with  their  sins ;  behold,  I  will 
utterly  sweep  away  Baasha  and  his  house;  and  I  wull 
make  thy  house  like  the  house  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of 

4  Nebat.  Him  that  dieth  of  Baasha  in  the  city  shall  the 
dogs  eat ;  and  him  that  dieth  of  his  in  the  field  shall  the 

5  fowls  of  the  air  eat.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Baasha, 
and  what  he  did,  and  his  might,  are  they  not  written  in 

6  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ?  And 
Baasha  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in  Tirzah ; 

verb  expressing  the  double  sense,  'became  king*  and  'reigned.' 
So  xvi.  8,  15,  23,  2  Kings  xiii.  i,  10,  xiv.  23,  xv.  8,  17,  23,  27, 
xvii.  I.  The  construction,  though  intelligible,  is  harsh,  and  pro- 
bably arises  from  the  fact  that  the  synchronisms  were  inserted  at 
a  secondary  stage  of  the  redaction  (Introd.  p.  39).  Two  of  them 
are  actually  wanting  in  the  LXX  (xvi.  8,  15). 

xvi.  1.  Jehu  the  son  of  Hanani  is  named  by  the  chronicler  as 
the  author  of  a  history  which  in  his  time  had  been  incorporated  in 
the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  (2  Chron.  xx.  34).  He  is  also 
mentioned  as  meeting  Jehoshaphat  with  a  stern  rebuke,  after  the 
death  of  Ahab  [2  Chron.  xix.  2),  which  is  no  doubt  chronologically 
possible,  though  scarcely  probable. 

2-4.  For  the  phraseology,  cf.  xiv.  7,  9-u,  and  other  parallels 
cited  by  Driver,  Introd. ',  p.  194. 

6.  Like  Jeroboam,  Baasha  dies  a  peaceful  death,  transmitting 
the  prophetic  doom  to  his  son. 

buried  in  Tirzah.  See  on  xiv.  17.  Baasha  is  the  first  king 
who  is  certainly  known  to  have  made  Tirzah  his  capital  (xv.  21). 
At  the  end  of  the  verse  the  LXX  adds,  '  in  the  twentieth  (in  some 
MSS.,  the  twenty-eighth)  year  of  king  Asa.'  It  is  possible  that 
this  is  the  misplaced  synchronism  of  the  accession  of  Elah,  which 
is  wanting  in  verse  8. 


I    KINGS  16.  7-10.     DD-DKI  215 

and  Elah  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  [D-]  And  more-  -7 
over  by  the  hand  of  the  prophet  Jehu  the  son  of  Hanani 
came  the  word  of  the  Lord  against  Baasha,  and  against 
his  house,  both  because  of  all  the  evil  that  he  did  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord,  to  provoke  him  to  anger  with  the  work  - 
of  his  hands,  in  being  like  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  and 
because  he  smote  him. 

[D]  In  the  twenty  and  sixth  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judali  8 
began  Elah  the  son  of  Baasha  to  reign  over  Israel  in 
Tirzah,  and  reig/ied  two  years.      [KI]   And  his  servant   9 
Zimri,  captain  of  half  his  chariots,  conspired  against  him  : 
now  he  was  in  Tirzah,  drinking  himself  drunk  in  the 
house  of  Arza,  which  was  over  the  household  in  Tirzah : 
and  Zimri  went  in  and  smote  him,  and  killed  him,  in  10 
the  twenty  and  seventh  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah,  and 

7.  The  position  of  the  verse,  after  the  concluding  formula, 
would  of  itself  create  doubts  of  its  genuineness.  It  is  clearly  a 
parallel  to  verses  1-4  ;  and  the  only  motive  that  can  be  assigned 
for  its  insertion  is  in  the  last  clause  :  the  interpolator  wished  to 
make  it  clear  that  the  doom  of  Baasha's  house  was  due  not  merely 
to  his  following  in  the  footsteps  of  Jeroboam,  but  also  to  his  ruth- 
less cruelty  to  the  offspring  of  his  predecessor  (cf.  the  similar 
judgement  on  the  house  of  Jehu,  in  Hos.  i.  4). 
xvi.  8-14.  Eloh  of  Israel. 

The  introduction  (verse  8)  is  abbreviated  by  the  omission  of 
the  religious  judgement  ;  and  in  the  LXX  by  the  omission  of  the 
synchronism  (but  see  on  verse  6  above).  In  the  narrative  of 
Zimri's  conspiracy,  verses  9-1 1  are  from  the  chronicles  of  the 
kingdom,  while  verses  12,  13  are  an  editorial  supplement.  Verse 
14  is  the  usual  concluding  formula. 

9.  he  was  in  Tixzah.  While  the  army  was  in  the  field  against 
the  Philistines,  the  king  was  giving  himself  up  to  dissipation  in 
the  capital. 

Arza,  the  major-domo,  was  probably  an  accomplice  of  the  arch- 
conspirator  Zimri,  who  held  an  impojrtant,  though  subordinate^ 
military  command. 

10.  in  the  twenty  and  seventh  year  .  .  .  Jtidah  :  omitted  by 
the  LXX,  but  undoubtedly  genuine  (see  xv.  28). 

11.  Cf.  XV.  29. 


2t6  I    KINGS   16.  11-15.     KIDKI 

IT  reigned  in  his  stead.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he 
began  to  reign,  as  soon  as  he  sat  on  his  throne,  that  he 
smote  all  the  house  of  Baasha :  he  left  him  not  a  single 
man  child,  neither  of  his  kinsfolks,  nor  of  his  friends. 

12  [D]  Thus  did  Zimri  destroy  all  the  house  of  Baasha,  ac- 
cording to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  against 

13  Baasha  by  Jehu  the  prophet,  for  all  the  sins  of  Baasha, 
and  the  sins  of  Elah  his  son,  which  they  sinned,  and 
wherewith  they  made  Israel  to  sin,  to  provoke  the  Lord, 

14  the  God  of  Israel,  to  anger  with  their  vanities.  Now  the 
rest  of  the  acts  of  Elah,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not 
written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of 
Israel  ? 

15  In  the  twenty  and  seventh  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah 
did  Zimri  reign  seven  days  in  Tirzah.  [KI]  Now  the 
people  were  encamped  against  Gibbethon,  which  belonged 

man  child:  see  xiv.  10. 

his  kinsfolks :  lit.  '  his  redeemers,'  i.  e,  those  near  enough 
of  kin  to  fall  under  the  various  obligations  of  the  go'el  (see  Ruth 
ii.  20,  iii.  13,  iv.  4  ff). 

12,  13  are  the  reflection  of  the  compiler  on  the  incident. 

their  vanities :  a  common  designation  of  false  gods  :  Deut, 
xxxii.  21  ;  Jer.  viii.  19,  xiv.  22,  &c. 

xvi.  15-20.  Zimri  of  Israel. 

The  usurper  did  not  in  this  case  reap  the  fruit  of  his  crime. 
On  hearing  of  the  event  the  army  at  Gibbethon  immediatel3'' 
elected  their  general  Omri  as  king  and  marched  against  Tirzah. 
Zimri  in  despair  set  fire  to  the  palace  and  perished  in  the  flames. 
The  narrative  part  of  the  section  (verses  i5*'-i8)  is  the  continua- 
tion of  verses  9-1  r  in  the  primary  document;  the  compiler  has 
supplied  verse  19,  besides  the  introduction  (verse  15*)  and  the 
conclusion  (20). 

15*.  The  synchronism  is  omitted  by  LXX  (B)  ;  the  Lucianic 
text  has  '  In  the  twenty-second  year  of  Asa,'  &c.  LXX  (B)  is 
again  peculiar  in  assigning  to  Zimri  a  reign  of  seven  years,  instead 
of  seven  days. 

15^  the  people:  i.  e.  the  arm}',  as  often  (2  Sam  i.  4,&c,,  &c.). 
Oibhethon:  see  on  xv,  27. 


I    KINGS  16.  16-21.     KIDKI  217 

to  the  Philistines.     And  the  people  that  were  encamped  16 
heard  say,  Zimri  hath  conspired,  and  hath  also  smitten 
the  king  :  wherefore  all  Israel  made  Omri,  the  captain  of 
the  host,  king  over  Israel  that  day  in  the  camp.     And  17 
Omri  went  up  from  Gibhethon,  and  all  Israel  with  him, 
and  they  besieged  Tirzah.     And  it  came  to  pass,  when  18 
Zimri  saw  that  the  city  was  taken,  that  he  went  into  the 
castle  of  the  king's  house,  and  burnt  the  king's  house 
over  him  with  fire,  and  died,  [D]  for  his  sins  which  he  19 
sinned  in  doing  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord,  in  walking  in  the  way  of  Jeroboam,  and  in  his  sin 
which  he  did,  to  make  Israel  to  sin.     Now  the  rest  of  20 
the  acts  of  Zimri,  and  his  treason  that  he  wrought,  are 
they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the 
kings  of  Israel? 

[KI]  Then  were  the  people  of  Israel  divided  into  two  21 
parts  :  half  of  the  people  followed  Tibni  the  son  of  Ginath, 

16.  In  those  troublous  and  anarchic  times,  election  by  the  elders 
or  the  assembly  (xii.  20)  naturally  gave  place  to  election  by  the 
army,  when  the  ablest  general  had  the  best  chance.  In  this  case 
it  resulted  in  the  founding  of  the  strongest  dynasty  the  northern 
kingdom  ever  had  :  see  belov^. 

18.  the  castle  of  tlie  king's  house:  'the  citadel  of  the  royal 
palace.'  The  w^ord  for  castle  is  usually  rendered  '  palace  ' ;  here 
it  can  only  mean  the  best  defended  of  a  complex  of  royal  buildings. 

19.  for  his  sins.  The  judgement  is  surprising  in  the  case  of 
one  who  reigned  only  seven  days,  who  certainly  had  crimes 
enough  to  answer  for,  but  could  hardly  have  been  the  means  of 
causing  Israel  to  sin  after  the  fashion  of  Jeroboam. 

20.  and  his  treason.  It  is  difficult  to  see  on  what  grounds 
Benzinger  and  many  others  assert  that  such  statements  could  not 
have  stood  in  the  official  annals.     See  Introd.  p.  24. 

xvi.  21,  22.  Rival  Claimants  for  the  Croivn.  After  the  death  of 
Zimri  his  faction  appears  to  have  found  a  new  leader  in  a  certain 
Tibni,  the  son  of  Ginath,  who  must  have  kept  the  allegiance  of 
a  section  of  the  people  for  a  considerable  time  (see  on  verse  23). 
The  verses  are  taken  from  the  same  source  as  verses  16-18,  and 
are  untouched  by  the  compiler. 


2i8  I    KINGS  16.  22-24.     KIDKI 

22  to  make  him  king;  and  half  followed  Omri.  But  the 
people  that  followed  Omri  prevailed  against  the  people 
that  followed  Tibni  the  son  of  Ginath :   so  Tibni  died, 

23  and  Omri  reigned.  [D]  In  the  thirty  and  first  year  of 
Asa  king  of  Judah  began  Omri  to  reign  over  Israel,  mid 
reigned  twelve  years  :  [KI]  six  years  reigned  he  in  Tirzah. 

24  And  he  bought  the  hill  Samaria  of  Shemer  for  two  talents 

22.  so  Tibni  died.  The  LXX  has  :  '  And  Tibni  and  Joram  his 
brother  died  at  that  time,  and  Omri  reigned  instead  of  Tibni.' 
The  additions  (which  can  scarcely  be  mere  inventions)  show  that 
Tibni's  resistance  was  of  a  much  more  formicable  character  than 
we  should  gather  from  the  Hebrew. 

xvi.  23-28.  Omri  of  Israel. 
With  the  exception  of  verse  24  (which  is  an  ancient  notice 
thrust  into  the  introduction)  the  whole  passage  is  written  by  the 
compiler,  who  tells  little  beyond  the  fact  that  Omri  reigned 
wickedly  for  twelve  years.  It  is  a  meagre  record  of  an  eventful 
and  powerful  reign.  To  the  Assyrians  Omri  was  known  as  the 
founder  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  ;  and  for  all  effective  purposes 
he  is  fairly  entitled  to  that  distinction.  In  the  Inscriptions,  Jehu, 
the  destroyer  of  his  dynasty,  is  called  by  Shalmaneser  II  'the  son  of 
Humri '  ;  and  down  to  the  time  of  Sargon  the  country  is  described 
as  'the  land  of  the  house  of  Humri.'  From  another  quarter,  the 
Stone  of  Mesha  testifies  to  his  prowess  as  the  subjugator  of  the 
land  of  Moab,  which  remained  under  the  dominion  of  Israel 
for  forty  years.  His  choice  of  Samaria  as  the  capital,  which  is 
the  one  thing  here  related  to  his  credit,  was  itself  an  evidence  of 
political  sagacity,  comparable  to  David's  selection  of  Jerusalem. 
The  compiler's  silence  with  regard  to  the  more  brilliant  aspects 
of  the  reign  is  an  evidence  of  his  indifference  to  purely  secular 
interests. 

23.  In  tlie  thirty  and  first  year.  This  allows  an  interregnum 
of  four  years  between  the  election  of  Omri  (verse  16)  and  his 
acknowledgement  as  undisputed  sovereign.  The  twelve  years 
of  his  reign,  however,  are  reckoned  from  the  death  of  Elah  (see 
verse  29),  a  clear  indication  that  the  synchronistic  notice  has  been 
superimposed  on  the  original  introduction.  That,  at  least,  is  the 
view  that  has  prevailed  in  the  Hebrew  text ;  on  the  divergent 
scheme  of  the  LXX,  sec  on  verse  29. 

24.  The  site  of  the  ancient  Samaria  is  now  occupied  by  the 
village  of  Sebttstiyeh,  six  miles  north-west  of  Nabulus.  It  stood 
on  the  crest  of  an   isolated  conical  hill,  rising  more  than  300  feet 


I    KINGS  16.  25-29.     KID  219 

of  silver ;  and  he  built  on  the  hill,  and  called  the  name 
of  the  city  which  he  built,  after  the  name  of  Shemer,  the 
owner  of  the  hill,   Samaria.     [D]  And  Oniri  did  that  25 
which  was  evil   in   the  sight  of  the  Lord,   and   dealt 
wickedly  above  all  that  were  before  him.    For  he  walked  ,26 
in  all  the  way  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  and  in  his 
sins  wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin,  to  provoke  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  to  anger  with  their  vanities. 
Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Omri  which  he  did,  and  his  27 
might  that  he  shewed,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book 
of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ?    So  Omri  slept  28 
with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in  Samaria  :  and  Ahab 
his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

And  in  the  thirty  and  eighth  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah  29 

above  the  level  of  the  broad  valley  from  which  it  springs  (G.  A. 
Smith,  Hist.  Geog.  p.  346).  Its  strikingly  beautiful  situation 
suggested  to  Isaiah  the  image  of  a  wreath  on  the  brow  of  a 
drunken  reveller  (Isa.  xxviii.   i). 

Samaria,  the  Greek  form  of  the  name,  is  akin  to  the  Assyrian 
Samirina  and  Aramaic  Shdmeraifi,  and  probably  more  ancient 
than  the  Hebrew  Shomeron  :  it  is  certainly  more  easily  derivable 
from  Shemer,  the  name  of  the  owner  of  the  hill. 

25.  above  all  that  were  before  him.  Wherein  his  exceptional 
wickedness  consisted  is  not  told  either  in  verse  26  or  anywhere 
else.  Mic.  vi.  16  ('  statutes  of  Omri ')  might  show  that  some 
religious  innovations  of  a  reprehensible  kind  were  attributed  to 
him  in  later  times. 

[After  verse  28  the  LXX  inserts  the  account  of  Jehoshaphat's 
reign  ;  see  on  verse  29.] 

xvi.  29-34.  Ahah  of  Israel.  Introduction. 
These  verses  are  the  editorial  introduction  (interspersed  with 
a  few  annalistic  notices)  to  the  reign  of  Ahab.  It  is  separated 
from  the  concluding  notice  in  xxii.  39,  40  by  a  series  of  narratives 
of  the  highest  historical  and  religious  interest.  The  most  im- 
portant fact  of  the  reign  was  the  introduction  of  the  Phoenician 
Baal-worship,  which  is  here  described  as  a  consequence  of  the 
marriage  alliance  with  the  king  of  Tyre,  and  rightly  characterized 
as  a  menace  to  the  national  religion  which  threw  the  cult  of 
Jeroboam's  golden  calves  completely  into  the  shade.      The  re- 


220  I    KINGS  16.  .^0-32.     D 

began  Ahab  the  son  of  Omri  to  reign  over  Israel :  and 
Ahab  the  son  of  Omri  reigned  over  Israel  in  Samaria 

30  twenty  and  two  years.  And  Ahab  the  son  of  Omri  did 
that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  above  all 

31  that  were  before  him.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  if  it  had 
been  a  light  thing  for  him  to  walk  in  the  sins  of  Jero- 
boam the  son  of  Nebat,  that  he  took  to  wife  Jezebel  the 
daughter  of  Ethbaal  king  of  the  Zidonians,  and  went  and 

32  served  Baal,  and  worshipped  him.     And  he  reared  up 

building  of  Jericho  (verse  34)  is  presumably  recorded  as  a  glaring 
illustration  of  the  impiety  and  indifference  to  spiritual  considera- 
tions that  marked  the  age. 

29.  in  the  thirty  and  eigflith  year :  LXX,  <  in  the  second  year 
of  Jehoshaphat.'  We  have  here  a  good  example  of  the  freedom 
with  which  the  text  was  handled  in  early  times,  and  also  a  proof 
of  the  secondary  character  of  the  whole  synchronistic  scheme. 
The  explanation  of  the  difference  is  probably  as  follows.  The 
LXX  reckons  the  twelve  years  of  Omri  from  the  suppression  of 
Tibni  (verse  23),  which  brings  the  end  of  the  reign  down  to  the 
forty-third  of  Asa.  Since  Asa  reigned  only  forty-one  years,  the 
death  of  Omri  thus  falls  in  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat.  Then  the 
plan  of  the  book  required  that  the  account  of  Jehoshaphat  should 
come  between  Omri  and  Ahab  ;  and  accordingly  the  LXX  actually 
inserts  it  between  verses  28  and  29  (28*"'^,  in  Swete),  dating  his 
accession  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Omri.  Otherwise,  the  verse 
is  given  by  the  LXX  in  a  simpler  and  probably  more  original 
form  than  in  the  Hebrew. 

31.  And  it  came  .  .  .  walk  ;  better,  perhaps,  '  And  it  was  the 
lightest  (of  his  offences)  that  he  walked,'  &c. 

Ethbaal :  Ithobal  I  ('  with  him  is  Baal ')  of  Tyre  is  mentioned 
by  Menander  (Josephus,  Ant.  viii.  131  f.)  ;  his  reign  is  dated  by 
Winckler  887-876  B.C.  {KAT^,  p.  129).  The  name  Jezebel 
<^IzebeT)  is  of  uncertain  etymology.  The  marriage,  which  proved 
so  disastrous  to  Ahab's  dynasty  and  the  peace  of  the  nation,  was 
in  itself  a  clever  stroke  of  statecraft.  Ahab,  like  Solomon  before 
him,  perceived  the  advantage  of  an  alliance  with  Tyre  ;  and  he 
secured  it  in  the  usual  way  by  taking  the  Tyrian  princess  as  his 
consort.  The  inevitable  practical  corollary  was  the  recognition 
of  the  foreign  deit}',  out  of  which  arose  the  great  religious 
struggle  of  the  reign. 

32,  33.  International  courtesy  demanded  that  the  foreign  queen 
should    have   a   sanctuary   of  her  own   religion   in   her  adopted 


I    KINGS  16.  33— 17.  I.     DKIEj  221 

an  altar  for  Baal  in  the  house  of  Baal,  which  he  had 
built  in  Samaria.  And  Ahab  made  the  Asherah ;  and  33 
Ahab  did  yet  more  to  provoke  the  Lord,  the  God  of 
Israel,  to  anger  than  all  the  kings  of  Israel  that  were 
before  him.  [KI]  In  his  days  did  Hiel  the  Beth-elite  34 
build  Jericho :  he  laid  the  foundation  thereof  with  the 
loss  of  Abiram  his  firstborn,  and  set  up  the  gates  thereof 
with  the  loss  of  his  youngest  son  Segub ;  according  to 
the  \vord  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  by  the  hand  of 
Joshua  the  son  of  Nun. 

[Ej]  And  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  who  was  of  the  sojourners  17 

country  ;  and  accordingly  Ahab,  still  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
Solomon  (xi.  7),  erects  in  Samaria  a  temple  to  Baal,  with  its  indis- 
pensable adjuncts,  the  asherah  and  (as  we  learn  from  2  Kings 
iii.  2)  the  mazzebah  (see  on  xiv.  23). 

Baal  is  here  evidently  the  Baal  or  chief  god  of  Tyre,  Melkarth. 
On  the  religious  significance  of  the  innovation,  see  the  introductory 
note  to  next  chapter. 

34  is  wanting  in  LXX  (L),  and  presents  some  difficulties. 

Jericho  :  now  Ertha,  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan  ; 
but  the  O.  T.  city  is  thought  to  have  been  at  'Ain  es-Sultdn,  about 
one  and  a  half  miles  to  the  north-west,  and  six  miles  from  the 
river.  The  place  had  not  lain  waste  since  its  destruction  by 
Joshua  (see  2  Sam.  x.  5,  Judges  iii,  13)  ;  hence  the  word  build 
must  be  understood  in  the  frequent  sense  of '  extend '  or  '  fortify  '  : 
how  this  task  fell  to  a  private  individual  does  not  appear.  The 
expression  with,  the  loss  of  {lit.  'at  the  cost  of'^the  so-called 
Beth  prctii)  is  variously  interpreted.  Some  think  of  an  immolation 
of  the  two  sons  by  the  father,  in  order  to  extinguish  the  curse 
that  lay  on  the  rebuilding  of  the  city  ;  others  (as  Winckler)  of  the 
primitive  custom  of  burying  human  victims  alive  under  foundations 
ot  thresholds,  to  avert  the  wrath  of  the  earth-demons  (cf.  Trumbull, 
Threshold  Covenant,  p.  46  ff.).  These  theories  are  perhaps  un- 
called for  ;  the  best  explanation  may,  after  all,  be  that  some  tragic 
fate  actually  overtook  Hiel's  sons,  and  that  the  common  opinion 
recognized  in  this  the  operation  of  the  ancient  curse  pronounced 
by  Joshua  (Joshua  vi.  26). 

xvii-xix.  Elijah  and  Ahab. 

Although  these  chapters  cover  only  about  three  years  of  Elijah's 
life  they  present  an  epitome  of  his  whole  career,  and  constitute 


222  I    KINGS  17.  I.     Ej 

of  Gilead,  said  unto  Ahab,  As  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 

the  chief  document  for  our  interpretation  of  the  religious  crisis  of 
the  ninth  century.  The  nature  of  that  crisis  must  be  briefly 
indicated.  The  worship  of  the  Baals— the  local  deities  of  the  old 
Canaanitish  sanctuaries— had  been  practised  by  the  Israelites 
ever  since  the  Conquest,  and  had  resulted  in  an  amalgamation  of 
the  two  types  of  religion,  and  a  confusion  of  the  ethical  character 
of  Yahweh  with  the  attributes  proper  to  a  mere  nature-deity. 
It  is  probable  that  by  the  time  of  Elijah  this  process  had  gone  so 
far  as  no  longer  to  excite  any  effectual  protest  on  behalf  of  the 
purity  of  the  national  faith.  But  the  introduction  of  the  cult  of 
the  Tyrian  Baal  under  the  patronage  of  Jezebel  was  recognized 
as  a  new  departure  in  the  life  of  the  people,  and  it  raised  anew 
the  whole  issue  between  true  and  false  religion  in  Israel.  At 
this  juncture  Elijah  appeared.  He  saw,  if  no  one  else  did,  that 
the  conflict  between  Yahweh  and  Baal  was  no  mere  affair  of 
politics  or  patriotism,  but  a  conflict  between  two  opposite  religious 
principles,  of  which  one  could  not  exist  alongside  of  the  other ; 
on  the  one  hand  the  immoral  nature-religion  of  Canaan,  and  on 
the  other  the  ethical  religion  of  Israel.  'To  him,'  as  Wellhausen 
has  finely  said,  *  Baal  and  Yahweh  represented,  so  to  speak, 
a  contrast  of  principles,  of  profound  and  ultimate  practical 
convictions  ;  both  could  not  be  right,  nor  could  they  exist  side  by 
side.  For  him  there  existed  no  plurality  of  Divine  Powers, 
operating  with  equal  authority  in  different  spheres,  but  every- 
where One  Holy  and  Mighty  Being,  who  revealed  Himself,  not  in 
the  life  of  nature,  but  in  those  laws  by  which  alone  human  society 
is  held  together,  in  the  ethical  demands  of  the  spirit.'  {Israelitische 
ttnd  Jiidische  Gesckichie^,  p.  74.)  The  perception  of  that  funda- 
mental antagonism,  and  the  rigorous  enforcement  of  its  practical 
consequences,  are  the  key  to  the  significance  of  Elijah's  ministry. 
As  the  precursor  of  the  prophetic  movement  of  the  following 
century,  he  is  to  be  ranked  as  the  greatest  religious  personality 
that  had  been  raised  up  in  Israel  since  Moses. 

Critics  are  unanimous  in  assigning  the  narrative  to  a  Biography 
of  Elijah,  written  from  the  prophetic  point  of  view,  and  distinct 
from  all  the  other  documents  incorporated  in  the  book  (see 
Introd.  p.  28).  On  two  points  some  difference  of  opinion 
exists  :  (a)  as  to  whether  ch.  xxi  belongs  to  the  same  source  as 
xvii-xix  (on  this  something  will  be  said  in  the  introduction  to 
ch.  xxi)  ;  and  {b)  as  to  the  date  of  the  composition.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  the  section  (in  contrast  to  ch.  xxi)  shows  no  decided 
trace  of  Deuteronomic  revision  ;  hence,  so  far  as  literary  evidence 
goes,  the  possibility  is  left  open  that  it  might  have  been  embodied 
in  the  history  after  the  compilation  of  Kings.  And  there  are 
perhaps  some  features  which  by  themselves  might  suggest  a  late 


I    KINGS  17.  2.     Ej  223 

liveth,  before  whom  I  stand,  there  shall  not  be  dew  nor 
rain  these  years,  but  according  to  my  word.     And  the  2 

composition.  But  there  arc  other  and  more  essential  characteris- 
tics which  can  only  be  explained  on  the  assumption  of  a  relatively 
early  date  (the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century).  Thus  (i)  the 
absence  of  any  polemic  against  the  worship  of  the  golden  calves 
is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  compiler's  persistent  criticism  of  that 
offence,  and  makes  it  probable  that  the  narrative  is  older  than 
Amos  and  Hosea ;  (2)  the  complaint  of  the  destruction  of  the 
northern  altars  (xix.  14^  could  hardly  have  been  recorded  by  any 
writer  influenced  by  the  Deuteronomic  legislation ;  and  (3)  the 
manner  in  which  the  judgement  on  Israel  is  represented  (see  the 
note  on  xix.  17)  could  not  possibly  originate  after  the  historical 
tradition  had  once  been  fixed  bj'  the  Book  of  Kings.  It  seems 
a  reasonable  conclusion  that  while  the  history  may  be  idealized  in 
a  way  that  precludes  the  assumption  of  strictly  contemporary 
authorship,  j'et  the  biography  must  have  taken  shape  in  an  age  lo 
which  the  work  of  Elijah  was  a  living  memor3\ 

xvii.  I.  Elijah's  Message  to  Ahab.  With  the  eagle-like  sudden- 
ness which  characterizes  all  his  movements  Elijah  appears 
abruptly  before  Ahab  with  the  announcement  of  a  drought  which 
is  to  continue  for  some  years,  and  not  to  be  removed  except  in 
accordance  with  his  prophetic  word.  The  threat  raises  in  the 
most  effective  way  the  religious  question  which  Elijah  wished  to 
force  on  the  minds  of  his  contemporaries  :  Who  is  the  truly 
Divine  Being — Yahweh  or  Baal  ?  In  nothing  did  the  ancient 
world  recognize  the  hand  of  God  more  directly  than  in  the  giving 
and  withholding  of  rain  ;  and  the  chief  purpose  of  this  prediction 
is  to  demonstrate  that  the  God  whose  sen'ant  Elijah  is  is  the  sole 
ruler  of  nature,  against  whose  will  no  power  in  heaven  or  earth 
can  prevail.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  beginning  of  the 
history  has  been  omitted  in  the  compilation  ;  but  the  considerations 
that  point  in  that  direction  have  no  great  weight;  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  any  introduction  would  not- weaken  the  dramatic  effect 
of  the  great  prophet's  advent  on  the  scene. 

1.  of  the  sojourners  of  Gilead.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the 
correct  reading  is  that  of  the  LXX  :  'from  Tishbe  of  Gilead '— 
so  defined  to  distinguish  it  from  another  Tishbe  in  Galilee 
(Tobit  i.  2).  A  place  Istib^  a  few  miles  north-west  from  Mahm 
(see  on  iv.  14^,  where  a  ruined  shrine  still  bears  the  name  Mat 
Elyds,  has  been  plausibly  identified  with  the  birthplace  of  Elijah. 
Iiefore  whom  I  stand  :  expresses  the  prophet's  lofty  con- 
sciousness of  his  personal  relation  to  Yahweh  (cf.  xviii.  15). 

xvii.  2-7.  Elijah  at  the  Brook  Cherith.  The  intensity  of  the 
calamity   is   delineated,    not    in   vague    general   statements,    but 


224  I    KINGS  17.  3-9.     Ej 

3  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  him,  saying,  Get  thee  hence, 
and  turn  thee  eastward,  and  hide  thyself  by  the  brook 

4  Cherith,  that  is  before  Jordan.  And  it  shall  be,  that 
thou  shalt  drink  of  the  brook ;  and  I  have  commanded 

5  the  ravens  to  feed  thee  there.  So  he  went  and  did 
according  unto  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  for  he  went  and 

6  dwelt  by  the  brook  Cherith,  that  is  before  Jordan.  And 
the  ravens  brought  him  bread  and  flesh  in  the  morning, 
and  bread  and  flesh  in  the  evening ;  and  he  drank  of  the 

7  brook.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  a  while,  that  the  brook 
dried  up,  because  there  was  no  rain  in  the  land. 

8  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  him,  saying, 

9  Arise,  get  thee  to  Zarephath,  which  belongeth  to  Zidon, 

concretely  and  vividly  through  the  experiences  of  the  prophet 
himself.  He  is  sent  first  to  a  desolate  vvradi  east  of  the  Jordan, 
where,  fed  morning  and  evening  by  the  ravens,  he  watches  the 
gradual  dwindling  of  the  stream  from  which  he  drank. 

3.  Get  thee  hence.  The  want  of  any  previous  determination 
of  locality  is  one  of  the  reasons  assigned  for  thinking  the  narrative 
has  been  curtailed  at  the  beginning. 

the  brook  Cherith  {Krith)  is  traditionally  associated  with 
the  Wadi  el-Kelt  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jericho.  But  the  word 
before  in  a  geographical  designation  can  hardlj^  be  understood 
otherwise  than  as  '  eastward,'  so  that  the  place  must  be  sought  in 
one  of  the  watercourses  flowing  into  the  Jordan  from  the  east, 
where  in  fact  it  is  put  by  the  Onomasticon  of  Eusebius  (Lagarde's 
edition,  pp.  113,  302). 

6.  the  ravens.  The  attempt  to  minimize  the  miracle  by  reading 
*  the  Arabs '  {'drdbim  for  'orebim)  is  a  rationalistic  absurdity'. 
For  bread  and  flesh  the  LXX  reads  'bread  in  the  morning  and 
flesh  in  the  evening,'  which  looks  better,  but  may  have  been 
suggested  by  Exod.  xvi,  8. 

xvii.  8-16.  Elijah  with  the  Widow  of  Zarephath.  The  prophet  is 
next  sent  to  Zarephath  in  Phoenicia,  where  he  lodges  in  the 
house  of  a  widow,  sustained  by  the  miraculous  barrel  of  meal  and 
cruse  of  oil,  which  failed  not  while  the  famine  lasted.  It  is 
impossible  to  conceive  a  more  terribly  realistic  picture  of  mute 
abject  human  suffering  than  the  account  of  Elijah's  first  interview 
with  the  woman  at  the  gate. 

9.  Zarephath  (Sarepta,  Luke  iv.  26),  on  the  sea-coast,  nine 
or  ten  miles  south  of  Sidon,  near  the  modern  village  of  Sarafend. 


I    KINGS   17.  lo-ifi.     Ej  225 

and  dwell  there :   beliold,  I  have  commanded  a  widow 
woman  there  to  sustain  thee.     So  he  arose  and  went  to  10 
Zarephath ;  and  when  he  came  to  the  gate  of  the  city, 
behold,  a  widow  woman  was  there  gathering  sticks :  and 
he  called  to  her,  and  said,  Fetch  me,  I  pray  thee,  a  little 
water  in  a  vessel,  that  I  may  drink.     And  as  she  was  11 
going  to  fetch  it,  he  called  to  her,  and  said.  Bring  me, 
I  pray  thee,  a  morsel  of  bread  in  thine  hand.     And  she  12 
said.  As  the  Lord  thy  God  liveth,  I  have  not  a  cake,  but 
an  handful  of  meal  in  the  barrel,  and  a  little  oil  in  the 
cruse :    and,   behold,   I   am   gathering   two   sticks,    that 
I  may  go  in  and  dress  it  for  me  and  my  son,  that  we 
may  eat  it,  and  die.     And  Elijah  said  unto  her.  Fear  13 
not ;  go  and  do  as  thou  hast  said  :  but  make  me  thereof 
a  little  cake  first,  and  bring  it  forth  unto  me,  and  after- 
ward make  for  thee  and  for  thy  son.     For  thus  saith  the  14 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  The  barrel  of  meal  shall  not 
waste,  neither  shall  the  cruse  of  oil  fail,  until  the  day 
that  the  Lord  sendeth  rain  upon  the  earth.     And  she  15 
went  and  did  according  to  the  saying  of  Elijah  :  and  she, 
and  he,  and  her  house,  did  eat  nia7iy  days.     The  barrel  [6 
of  meal  wasted  not,  neither  did  the  cruse  of  oil  fail, 
according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  by 


10,  11.  The  woman  complies  readily  with  the  request  for 
water,  but  when  asked  for  bread  is  forced  to  declare  the  absolute 
destitution  to  which  she  is  reduced. 

12.  the  IiORD  thy  God.  The  woman  is  a  heathen,  but 
recognizes  Elijah  as  a  worshipper  of  Yahweh,  and  swears  by  his 
God.     For  son  the  LXX,  here  and  in  verse  13,  reads  'sons.' 

13.  make  me  .  .  .  first :  a  severe  trial  of  her  faith. 

15.  The  woman  trusts  the  prophet,  and  is  rewarded  by  the 
fulfilment  of  his  promise. 

For  her  house  read  'her  son  '  (LXX  'sons,'  as  before). 

many  days :  strictly,  '  for  some  time.'   The  word  is  not  found 
in  the  LXX,  and  is  apparently  interpolated. 

Q 


226  I    KINGS  17.  17-22.     Ej 

1 7  Elijah.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  these  things,  that  the 
son  of  the  woman,  the  mistress  of  the  house,  fell  sick ; 
and  his  sickness  was  so  sore,  that  there  was  no  breath 

1 8  left  in  him.  And  she  said  unto  Elijah,  What  have  I  to 
do  with  thee,  O  thou  man  of  God  ?  thou  art  come  unto 
me  to  bring  my  sin  to  remembrance,  and  to  slay  my 

19  son  !  And  he  said  unto  her.  Give  me  thy  son.  And  he 
took  him  out  of  her  bosom,  and  carried  him  up  into  the 
chamber,  where  he  abode,  and  laid  him  upon  his  own 

20  bed.  And  he  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  O  Lord 
my  God,  hast  thou  also  brought  evil  upon  the  widow 

2  1  with  whom   I  sojourn,  by  slaying  her  son?      And   he 

stretched  himself  upon  the  child  three  times,  and  cried 
unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  O  Lord  my  God,  I  pray  thee, 

3  3  let   this   child's   soul  come  into  him   again.     And   the 

xvii.  17-24.  The  Widoivs  Son  restored  to  Life.  After  some  time 
the  widow's  son  falls  sick  and  dies,  but  through  the  intercession 
of  Elijah  is  restored  to  life.  The  mother  makes  avowal  of  he- 
faith  in  the  God  of  Elijah. 

17.  no  breath  left  in  Mm  :  no  sign  of  life.  Though  the  writer 
seems  to  avoid  the  direct  assertion  that  the  child  died,  Josephus 
{Ant.  viii.  325)  is  mistaken  in  suggesting  that  he  describes  the 
case  as  one  of  apparent  death  merely.  Such  a  view  is  not  consis- 
tent with  the  language  of  verse  21, 

18.  to  bringf  my  sin  to  remembrance.  The  idea  seems  to  be 
that  the  presence  of  the  man  of  God  has  called  the  attention  of  the 
Deity  to  guilt  which  would  otherwise  have  been  overlooked,  and 
of  which  she  herself  had  been  unconscious.  As  in  the  O.  T. 
generally,  the  sense  of  sin  is  awakened  by  calamity,  and  the  mind 
is  carried  back  behind  conscious  transgressions  to  the  deep-seated 
moral  defect  which  is  inherent  in  human  nature. 

19.  the  chamber:  'the  upper  chamber*  ^see  2  Kings  iv.  10), 
not  usually  found  in  the  houses  of  the  poor. 

20.  hast  thou  also  brought :  or  rather,  with  a  change  of 
emphasis,  '  hast  thou  brought  evil  upon  the  very  widow  with 
whom  . .  .  ? '  i.  e.  in  addition  to  the  universal  misery  caused  by  the 
drought. 

21.  stretched  himself  upon:  cf.  2  Kings  iv.  34  f.  and  Acts 
XX.  10.    The  LXX  reads  '  breathed  into  the  child.' 

l«t  thii  ohUd's  aioul.   The  soul  (jisphesh)  is  the  principle  of 


I    KIN(;S  17.  23—18.  .^.     Ej  227 

Lord  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  Elijah  ;  and  the  soul 
of  the  child  came  into  him  again,  and  he  revived.  And  23 
Elijah  took  the  child,  and  brought  him  down  out  of  the 
chamber  into  the  house,  and  delivered  him  unto  his 
mother :  and  Elijah  said,  See,  thy  son  liveth.  And  the  24 
woman  said  to  Elijah,  Now  I  know  that  thou  art  a  man 
of  God,  and  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  in  thy  mouth 
is  truth. 

And  it  came  to  pass  after  many  days,  that  the  word  of  18 
the  Lord  came  to  Elijah,  in  the  third  year,  saying,  Go, 
shew  thyself  unto  Ahab  ;  and  I  will  send  rain  upon  the 
earth.     And  Elijah  went  to  shew  himself  unto  Ahab.    2 
And  the  famine  was  sore  in  Samaria.     And  Ahab  called   .', 
Obadiah,  which  was  over  the  household.     (Now  Obadiah 

life,  and  cannot  be  conceived  as  having  left  the  body  except  at 
death  (contrast  x.  5).  Whether  it  was  believed  to  survive  the  death 
of  the  body  as  an  independent  entity  is  a  disputed  point  of  O.  T. 
psychology. 

24.  Now  I  know  :  by  experience  ;  not  that  she  had  doubted  it 
before  (verse  18). 

that  the  word  .  .  .  truth  :  or,  '  that  the  word  of  Yahweh  is 
truly  in  thy  mouth.'     (Ps.  cxxxii.  11.) 

xviii.  1-19.  Elijah's  Meeting  with  Ahab.  In  the  third  3'ear  (of 
the  drought)  Elijah  is  commanded  to  emerge  from  his  seclusion 
and  bring  the  controversy  between  Yahweh  and  Israel  to  a  decision. 
He  first  appears  to  Obadiah,  the  God-fearing  minister  of  the 
palace,  who  has  just  parted  from  Ahab  to  search  the  country  for 
pasture  to  the  royal  riding-beasts  ;  and  Obadiah,  after  being 
reassured  as  to  Elijah's  intention,  goes  to  seek  his  master.  Ahab 
soon  appears — the  LXX  says  he  '  ran  out '  in  his  eagerness 
to  confront  the  '  troubler  of  Israel  '—but  he  is  overawed  by  the 
stern  dignity  of  the  prophet's  answer,  who  rolls  back  the  blame 
of  Israel's  troubles  on  the  idolatries  of  the  ruling  house.  Elijah 
demands  a  convocation  of  all  Israel,  with  the  representatives  of 
the  foreign  religion,  at  Carmel ;  and  the  king  complies. 

3'',  4  interrupt  the  narrative  by  the  recital  of  an  episode  in 
which  Obadiah  had  given  proof  of  his  fidelity  to  the  cause  of 
Yahweh.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  this  is  a  condensation 
of  a  fuller  report  of  Jezebel's  persecution,  which  stood  originally 

Q  2 


228  I    KINGS   18.  4-To.     Ej 

4  feared  the  Lord  greatly  :  for  it  was  so,  when  Jezebel  cut 
off  the  prophets  of  the  Lord,  that  Obadiah  took  an  hun- 
dred prophets,  and  hid  them  by  fifty  in  a  cave,  and  fed 

5  them  with  bread  and  water.)  And  Ahab  said  unto  Oba- 
diah, Go  through  the  land,  unto  all  the  fountains  of 
water,  and  unto  all  the  brooks :  perad venture  we  may 
find  grass  and  save  the  horses  and  mules  alive,  that  we 

6  lose  not  all  the  beasts.  So  they  divided  the  land  between 
them  to  pass  throughout  it :  Ahab  went  one  way  by  him- 

7  self,  and  Obadiah  went  another  way  by  himself.  And 
as  Obadiah  was  in  the  way,  behold,  Elijah  met  him  :  and 
he  knew  him,  and  fell  on  his  face,  and  said,  Is  it  thou, 

8  my  lord  Elijah  ?     And  he  answered  him,  It  is  I :  go,  tell 

9  thy  lord,  Behold,  Elijah  is  here.  And  he  said,  Wherein 
have  I  sinned,  that  thou  wouldest  deliver  thy  servant  into 

10  the  hand  of  Ahab,  to  slay  me?     As  the  Lord  thy  God 
liveth,  there  is  no  nation  or  kingdom,  whither  my  lord 


in  an  earlier  part  of  the  document.  That  is  possible ;  but  what 
is  here  given  is  taken  directly  from  verse  13,  and  a  fuller  account 
was  perhaps  unnecessary  in  a  biography  of  Elijah. 

4.  The  activity  of  the  prophetic  schools  (see  on  xx.  35)  was 
a  marked  feature  of  the  time,  and  a  symptom  of  the  rising  opposi- 
tion to  Jezebel's  influence.  Of  her  persecution  of  the  prophets 
we  know  nothing  ;  but  we  cannot  suppose  that  it  was  part  of  an 
organized  scheme  to  suppress  the  worship  of  Yahweh  in  favour  of 
that  of  Baal  (see  ch.  xxii.). 

5.  Go  thronGrh:  better,  as  LXX,  '  Come  and  let  us  go  through.' 
that  we  lose  not :  read  with  LXX  (L), '  that  cattle  be  not  cut 

off  from  us.' 

7.  The  appearance  of  Elijah  is  unexpected  and  mysterious,  as  in 
xvii.  I,  xxi.  20. 

9.  Obadiah  fears  that  the  prophet  may  vanish  as  suddenly  as  he 
came,  leaving  him  to  bear  the  brunt  of  Ahab's  exasperation. 

10.  the  IiO&D  thy  God :  cf.  xvii.  12.  The  expression  in  the 
mouth  of  an  Israelite  is  a  recognition  of  the  special  relation  of  the 
prophet  to  God  ;  so  Isa.  vii.  13.  There  is  an  obvious  but  not 
unnatural  exaggeration  in  the  description  of  Ahab's  efforts  to 
discover  Elijah. 


1    KINGS   18.  11-17.     Ej  229 

hath  not  sent  to  seek  thee :  and  when  they  said,  He  is 
not  here,  he  took  an  oath  of  the  kingdom  and  nation, 
that  they  found  thee  not.     And  now  thou  sayest,  Go,  n 
tell  thy  lord,  Behold,  Elijah  is  here.     And  it  shall  come  i  i 
to  pass,  as  soon  as  I  am  gone  from  thee,  that  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord  shall  carry  thee  whither  I  know  not ;  and  so 
when  I  come  and  tell  Ahab,  and  he  cannot  find  thee, 
he  shall  slay  me :  but  I  thy  servant  fear  the  Lord  from 
my  youth.     Was  it  not  told  my  lord  what  I  did  when  13 
Jezebel  slew  the  prophets  of  the  Lord,  how  I  hid  an 
hundred  men  of  the  Lord's  prophets  by  fifty  in  a  cave, 
and  fed  them  with  bread  and  water?     And  now  thou  14 
sayest,  Go,  tell  thy  lord,  Behold,  Elijah  is  here  :  and  he 
shall  slay  me.     And  Elijah  said,  As  the  Lord  of  hosts  15 
liveth,  before  whom  I  stand,  I  will  surely  shew  myself 
unto  him  to-day.     So  Obadiah  went  to  meet  Ahab,  and  16 
told  him  :  and  Ahab  went  to  meet  Elijah.     And  it  came  1 7 
to  pass,  when  Ahab  saw  Elijah,  that  Ahab  said  unto  him, 

12.  Obadiah  shares  the  popular  belief  that  the  prophet's  mys- 
terious movements  are  caused  by  the  supernatural  power  of  the 
spirit  of  Yahweh(cf.  2  Kings  ii.  16);  but  there  seems  no  trace  of  this 
idea  in  the  mind  of  the  writer.  The  conception  appears  in  Ezekiel 
(iii.  12,  viii.  3,  xliii.  5),  but  it  is  of  course  not  to  be  inferred  that 
it  originated  with  him. 

13.  See  above  on  verse  4. 

15.  the  IiOBD  of  hosts  :  Heb.  Yahzveh  Zebd' 6th— a.  pecuV\ar\y 
solemn  title  of  the  God  of  Israel,  designating  Him  usually  as  the 
Lord  of  the  universe,  or  its  cosmical  forces.  It  is  held  by  some 
scholars  (Wellhausen,  Smend,  &c.)  that  it  was  first  introduced 
into  the  language  of  religion  by  the  prophet  Amos,  and  that  all 
occurrences  of  it  in  the  older  history  are  due  to  literary  revision. 
Another  and  more  probable  view  is  that  it  originated  in  the  period 
of  the  Philistine  wars,  as  a  name  of  the  battle-God  of  the  Hebrew 
hosts  (i  Sam  xvii.  45).  That  it  acquired  a  larger,  and  in  some 
sense  an  opposite,  connotation  in  the  hands  of  the  prophets  is 
undoubtedly  true  ;  but  Elijah  is  in  many  respects  the  forerunner 
of  the  literary  prophets,  and  it  is  not  incredible  that  in  its  more 
exalted  acceptation  it  was  first  used  by  him. 


230  I    KINGS  18.  18-20.     Ej 

iS  Is  it  thou,  thou  troubler  of  Israel?  And  he  answered, 
I  have  not  troubled  Israel;  but  thou,  and  thy  father's 
house,  in  that  ye  have  forsaken  the  commandments  of 

19  the  Lord,  and  thou  hast  followed  the  Baalim.  Now 
therefore  send,  and  gather  to  me  all  Israel  unto  mount 
Carmel,  and  the  prophets  of  Baal  four  hundred  and  fifty, 
and  the  prophets  of  the  Asherah  four  hundred,  which  eat 

20  at  Jezebel's  table.  So  Ahab  sent  unto  all  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  gathered  the  prophets  together  unto  mount 

17,  X8.  troubler  .  .  .  troubled:  a  strong  word,  meaning  'to 
bring  disaster  upon'  (Gen.  xxxiv.  30;  Joshua  vi.  18,  vii.  25). 

the  Baalim :  '  the  Baals ' — referring  to  tlie  local  forms  under 
which  the  Canaanitish  Baal  was  worshipped. 
10.  Carmel :  see  below  on  verse  20. 

and  the  prophets  of  the  Asherah  four  hundred.  If  the  words 
be  genuine  Asherah  must  here  be  the  proper  name  of  a  goddess 
(see  on  xiv.  23).  But  since  these  prophets  are  not  mentioned  in 
verses  22  and  40  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  clause  is  a  late  gloss, 
which  the  LXX  has  repeated  in  verse  22,  though  not  in  verse  40. 

eat  at  Jezebel's  table  :  see  on  ii.  7. 
That  the  Phoenician  and  Canaanite  religion  had  its  prophets 
{nebi'im)   is    an    important   historical   notice,    whose    interest  is 
enhanced  by  the  description   of  their    frenzied    demeanour    in 
verse  28. 

xviii.  20-40.  The  Sacrifice  on  Carmel.  The  scene  chosen  for 
this  great  vindication  of  the  divinity  of  Yahweh  is  Mount  Carmel, 
'sacred  above  all  mountains,  and  forbidden  of  access  to  the  vulgar.' 
There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  the  mountain  was  held  sacred 
by  the  Phoenicians,  and  had  an  altar  to  Baal  as  well  as  one  to 
Yahweh  (verse  30).  (For  the  classical  testimonies,  see  W.  R. 
Smith,  Rel.  of  Sem.^,  p.  156.)  Hence  it  was  the  fittest  place 
imaginable  for  a  contest  such  as  Elijah  contemplated,  between  the 
rival  claims  to  divinity  of  Yahweh  and  Baal.  The  incident  is  described 
with  all  the  impressiveness  and  circumstance  which  befitted  the 
crowning  act  of  Elijah's  prophetic  career.  The  issue  of  the  trial 
by  fire  demonstrated,  as  completely  as  physical  miracle  could  ever 
do,  the  impotence  and  non-entity  of  Baal  and  the  presence  of  true 
godhead  behind  the  word  of  Elijah.  The  assembled  people  were 
for  the  moment  overawed  and  convinced ;  and  the  extermination 
of  the  Baal-prophets  seemed  to  seal  for  ever  the  victory  of  the  true 
religion  over  the  false. 

20.  ixnto  mount  Carmel.     The  precise  spot  on  the  long  range 


I   KINGS  18.  21-26.     Ej  231 

Carmel.     And  Elijah  came  near  unto  all  the  people,  and  21 
said,  How  long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions?   if  the 
Lord  be  God,  follow  him  :  but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him. 
And  the  people  answered  him  not  a  word.     Then  said  23 
Elijah  unto  the  people,  I,  even  I  only,  am  left  a  prophet 
of  the  Lord  ;  but  Baal's  prophets  are  four  hundred  and 
fifty  men.     Let  them  therefore  give  us  two  bullocks ;  23 
and  let  them  choose  one  bullock  for  themselves,  and  cut 
it  in  pieces,  and  lay  it  on  the  wood,  and  put  no  fire  un- 
der :  and  I  mil  dress  the  other  bullock,  and  lay  it  on  the 
wood,  and  put  no  fire  under.     And  call  ye  on  the  name  24 
of  your  god,  and  I  will  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  : 
and  the  God  that  answereth  by  fire,  let  him  be  God. 
And  all  the  people  answered  and  said.  It  is  well  spoken. 
And  Elijah  said  unto  the  prophets  of  Baal,  Choose  you  25 
one  bullock  for  yourselves,  and  dress  it  first ;  for  ye  are 
many  ;  and  call  on  the  name  of  your  god,  but  put  no  fire 
under.     And   they  took  the  bullock  which  was  given  26 


of  Carmel  where  the  sacrifices  took  place  cannot,  of  course,  be 
determined  with  certainty  ;  but  none  can  be  found  more  suitable 
than  el-Muhrdkd  (the  place  of  burning),  at  the  foot  of  which  is  Tell 
el'Kasts  (the  priests'  mound),  the  place  traditionally  associated  with 
the  massacre  of  the  prophets  of  Baal.  El-Mithrakd  stands  nearly 
1,600  feet  above  sea-level,  nearly  four  miles  south  of  the  highest 
summit ;  it  has  no  view  of  the  sea,  which,  however,  can  readily 
be  obtained  by  a  few  minutes'  ascent  (see  verse  43).  Hard  by  is 
a  spring,  from  which  the  water  might  have  been  drawn  for  the 
drenching  of  the  altar  (33  ff.). 

/  21.  halt  ye  between  two  opinions:  LXX,  'go  lame  on  both  knee 
joints.'  The  literal  sense  of  the  Hebrew  is  obscure,  but  the  idea 
of  the  question  is  clear  from  what  immediately  follov,7S.  It  satirizes 
the  attempt  to  combine  two  religions  so  incongruous  as  those  of 
Baal  and  Yahweh. 

22.  I,  even  Z  only,  am  left:  cf.  xix.  14  ;  but  see,  on  the  othci 
hand,  verse  13,  xx.  13,  xxii.  6ff. 

24.  the  God  that  answereth  hy  fire :  cf.  2  Chron.  vii.  i. 

26.  The  words  which  was  given  them  (strictly,  'which  he 


232  I    KINGS  18.  37-29.     Ej 

them,  and  they  dressed  it,  and  called  on  the  name  of 
Baal  from  morning  even  until  noon,  saying,  O  Baal,  hear 
us.  But  there  was  no  voice,  nor  any  that  answered. 
-7  x\nd  they  leaped  about  the  altar  which  was  made.  And 
it  came  to  pass  at  noon,  that  Elijah  mocked  them,  and 
said,  Cry  aloud :  for  he  is  a  god  ;  either  he  is  musing,  or 
he  is  gone  aside,  or  he  is  in  a  journey,  or  peradventure 

28  he  sleepeth,  and  must  be  awaked.    And  they  cried  aloud, 
and  cut  themselves  after  their  manner  with  knives  and 

29  lances,  till  the  blood  gushed  out  upon  them.     And  it 
was  so,  when  midday  was  past,  that  they  prophesied  until 

had  given  them ')  are  to  be  omitted,  with  the  LXX,  as  inconsistent 
with  verses  23,  25, 

leaped  is  the  same  word  as  is  rendered  'halt'  in  verse  21. 
It  seems  to  denote  a  religious  dance  round  the  altar,  accompanied 
with  contortions  of  the  body,  as  was  usual  in  such  ceremonies. 

whicli  was  made :  LXX,  '  which  they  had  made.' 
2*7.  It  is  unreasonable  to  doubt  that  Elijah's  irony  is  conceived 
in  the  spirit  of  absolute  monotheism,  as  distinguished  from  mere 
monolatry.  He  could  not  have  used  such  language  if  the  question  in 
his  mind  had  been  merely  whether  Baal  was  the  proper  god  for 
Israel  to  worship  :  he  plainly  implies  that  Baal  is  no  god  at  all. 

he  is  xnnsing':   LXX,  'is  engaged  in  conversation.' 

Sfone  aside  is  explained  as  a  euphemistic  expression.  The 
sentence  as  a  whole  is  awkward  in  style. 

28.  The  taunt  of  Elijah  stimulates  the  devotees  of  Baal  to  still 
higher  frenzy.  The  cutting  of  the  flesh,  so  that  the  blood  gushes 
out  on  the  altar,  is  an  instance  of  a  widely  diffused  piece  of  primitive 
ritual,  based  originally,  as  W.  R.  Smith  has  argued,  on  the  idea  of 
a  blood-bond  thus  established  between  the  god  and  the  worshipper 
(^loc.  cit.  p.  321  ff.).  Here  it  is  perhaps  sufficiently'  explained  as 
a  substitute  for  human  sacrifice,  or  an  attempt  to  excite  the  pity 
of  the  god. 

29.  they  prophesied :  i.  e.  they  had  worked  themselves  up  to 
the  condition  of  wild  convulsive  frenzy  in  which  they  were  no 
longer  capable  of  self-control,  but  were  supposed  to  be  taken 
possession  of  by  a  supernatural  power.  Such  manifestations  were 
characteristic  of  the  earlier  and  lower  forms  of  prophecy  even  in 
Israel  (i  Sam,  x.  10,  xix.  20-24),  and  were  always  associated  with 
the  name  udbV  {prophet^,  so  that  in  popular  speech  '  prophet '  and 
■madman'  were  almost  convertible  terms  (i  Sam.  xviii.  10  ;  2  Kings 


I   KINGS   18.  30-33.     EJPEj  233 

the  time  of  the  offering  of  the  evening  oblation ;   but 
there  was  neither  voice,  nor  any  to  answer,  nor  any  that 
regarded.     And  Elijah  said  unto  all  the  people,  Come  30 
near  unto  me ;  and  all  the  people  came  near  unto  him. 
And  he  repaired  the  altar  of  the  Lord  that  was  thrown 
down.     [P]  And  Elijah  took  twelve  stones,  according  to  31 
the  number  of  the  tribes  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  unto 
whom  the  word  of  the  Lord  came,  saying,  Israel  shall  be 
thy  name.     And  with  the  stones  he  built  an  altar  in  the  32 
name  of  the  Lord  ;  [Ej]  and  he  made  a  trench  about  the 
altar,  as  great  as  would  contain  two  measures  of  seed. 
And  he  put  the  wood  in  order,  and  cut  the  bullock  in  33 
pieces,  and  laid  it  on  the  wood.     And  he  said,  Fill  four 

ix.  II  ;  Jer.  xxix.  26).  This  exhibition  lasted  till  the  time  of  the 
oifering*  of  the  evening  oblation,  which  must  therefore  have  been 
an  established  custom  in  the  northern  sanctuaries,  and  must 
evidently  have  been  observed  long  before  nightfall.  Whether  this 
time  corresponded  with  that  prescribed  by  the  Priestly  Code 
('between  the  two  evenings,'  Exod.  xxix.  39  R.  V.  marg.)  is 
uncertain.  Between  verses  29  and  30  the  LXX  has  another 
address  of  Elijah  to  the  prophets  of  Baal,  which  is  possibly 
genuine :  *  Cease  forthwith,  and  I  will  offer  my  burnt-offering. 
And  they  ceased  and  withdrew.' 

30.  And  he  repaired  .  .  .  thrown  down :  clearly  showing  that 
a  local  sanctuary  of  Yahweh  had  stood  on  the  spot.  The  statement 
appears  inconsistent  with  what  immediately  follows ;  for  if  the  old 
altar  was  repaired,  there  was  no  need  to  build  a  new  one.  Hence 
those  critics  are  probably  right  who  consider  verses  31,  32*  to  be 
an  interpolation  by  a  reader  who  took  exception  to  the  idea  of 
Elijah  tacitly  sanctioning  the  use  of  a  provincial  altar  b^'  restoring 
it  so  leverently ;  and  who  reveals  his  standpoint  by  a  direct 
quotation  from  the  Priestly  Code  (Gen.  xxxv.  10).  This  view  is 
confirmed  by  the  fact  that  in  the  LXX  verses  31,  32*  stand  htfore 
the  last  sentence  of  verse  30. 

32^.  as  gfreat  as  would  contain :  rather,  '  about  as  much  as 
would  be  sown  with  two  seahs.'  The  seah  is  a  third  of  an  ephah 
(see  on  v.  11).  In  the  Mishnah  the  expression  here  used  {beth 
scah)  is  said  to  be  a  definite  area,  about  900  sq.  yards  (Ben- 
zinger)  ;  twice  that  would  be  the  size  of  Elijah's  '  trench.'  The 
measurement  may  apply  to  the  area  enclosed  by  the  trench. 

33-35.  Such  elaborate  precautions  against  the  suspicion  of  fraud 


234  I    KINGS  18.  .H-40.     Ej 

barrels  with  water,  and  pour  it  on  the  burnt  ofifering,  and 

34  on  the  wood.  And  he  said,  Do  it  the  second  time ;  and 
they  did  it  the  second  time.     And  he  said.  Do  it  the 

35  third  time ;  and  they  did  it  the  third  time.  And  the 
water  ran  round  about  the  altar ;  and  he  filled  the  trench 

36  also  with  water.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  time  of  the 
offering  of  the  evening  oblation,  that  Elijah  the  prophet 
came  near,  and  said,  O  Lord,  the  God  of  Abraham,  of 
Isaac,  and  of  Israel,  let  it  be  known  this  day  that  thou  art 
God  in  Israel,  and  that  I  am  thy  servant,  and  that  I  have 

37  done  all  these  things  at  thy  word.  Hear  me,  O  Lord, 
hear  me,  that  this  people  may  know  that  thou.  Lord,  art 
God^  and  that  thou  hast  turned  their  heart  back  again. 

38  Then  the  lire  of  the  Lord  fell,  and  consumed  the  burnt 
offering,  and  the  wood,  and  the  stones,  and  the  dust,  and 

39  licked  up  the  water  that  was  in  the  trench.  And  when 
all  the  people  saw  it,  they  fell  on  their  faces  :  and  they 

.^o  said,  The  Lord,  he  is  God ;  the  Lord,  he  is  God.  And 
Elijah  said  unto  them,  Take  the  prophets  of  Baal ;  let 
not  one  of  them   escape.     And  they  took  them  :   and 

read  very  strangely  in  the  O.  T.  To  the  mind  of  one  commentator 
they  have  actually  suggested  the  grotesque  idea  that  naphtha  was 
used  ! 

36i  37.  The  prayer  of  Elijah  contains  two  petitions  :  first,  for 
the  vindication  of  his  own  prophetic  authority,  a  final  proof  that 
he  had  all  along  acted  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God  ;  and 
second,  for  the  bringing  back  of  the  nation  to  faith  in  the  one  true 
God.  On  the  answer  he  feels  that  he  has  staked  the  whole  future 
of  Israel's  religion.  That  36^  and  37  are  duplicates  (Benzinger) 
is  not  probable. 

38.  The  Divine  answer  takes  of  necessity  the  form  of  a  miracle, 

an  event  which  cannot  be  explained  by  any  known  laws  of  nature. 

And  without  assuming   the  reality  of  this  miracle  it  would  be 

difficult  to  avoid  dissolving  the  whole  history  of  Elijah  into  legend. 

the  fire  of  the  LORD  is  the  lightning  (Gen.  xix.  24,  &c.). 

40.  The  slaughter  of  the  false  prophets  took  place,  not  on  the 
scene  of  the  sacrifice,  but  at  the  brook  Kiaihon  {Na/tr el- Mukal /a), 
at  the  foot  of  tlie  hill  'see  on  verse  20), 


I    KINGS  18.  41-44.     Ej  235 

Elijah  brought  them  down  to  the  brook  Kishon,  and  slew 
them  there.     And  Elijah  said  unto  Ahab,  Get  thee  up,  41 
eat  and  drink ;  for  there  is  the  sound  of  abundance  of 
rain.     So  Ahab  went  up  to  eat  and  to  drink.     And  Elijah  42 
went  up  to  the  top  of  Carmel;  and  he  bowed  himself 
down  upon  the  earth,  and  put  his  face  between  his  knees. 
And  he  said  to  his  servant.  Go  up  now,  look  toward  the  43 
sea.     And  he  went  up,  and  looked,  and  said.  There  is 
nothing.     And  he  said.  Go  again  seven  times.     And  it  44 
came  to  pass  at  the  seventh  time,  that  he  said,  Behold, 
there  ariseth  a  cloud  out  of  the  sea,  as  small  as  a  man's 
hand.     And  he  said.  Go  up,  say  unto  Ahab,  Make  ready 

xviii.  41-46.  T/ie  coming  of  the  Rain.  Having,  as  it  seemed, 
made  an  end  for  ever  of  idolatry  in  Israel,  Elijah  now  turns  to 
Ahab  with  an  assurance  that  the  sorely-needed  rain  will  be  no 
longer  withheld.  While  the  king  eats  and  drinks  in  his  tent,  the 
prophet  ascends  the  mountain  to  wait  and  pray  for  the  first  sign 
of  the  promised  blessing.  At  last  his  attendant  reports  a  speck  of 
cloud  on  the  horizon,  and  speedily  the  whole  sky  is  overcast,  and 
before  Ahab's  chariot  can  reach  the  gate  of  Jezrecl  the  rain  has 
begun  to  fall. 

41.  Get  tliee  up :  from  the  banks  of  the  river,  where  he  had 
witnessed  the  massacre  of  his  queen's  satellites,  to  some  point  not 
indicated  on  the  mountain-side.  It  is  impossible  to  form  a  distinct 
picture  of  the  situation. 

there  is  the  sound.    The  prophet  means  that  he  already  hears 
(in  spirit)  the  noise  of  the  coming  rain. 

42.  he  bowed  himself  dowa.  The  verb  occurs  again  only  in 
2  Kings  iv.  34  f.  Neitherthe  attitude  itself  noritssignificance  can  be 
fully  explained.  It  seems,  however,  to  express  intense  concentra- 
tion of  thought  on  an  invisible  object,  since  Elijah  cannot  relax  his 
attention  to  observe  the  signs  of  the  weather,  but  sends  his  servant 
to  look. 

43.  Go  again  seven  times :  add  with  the  LXX,  *  And  the 
servant  went  again  seven  times.'  (See  further,  Burney's  Notes, 
p.  328.) 

44.  45.  With  the  appearing  of  the  cloud,  as  small  as  a  man's 
hand,  Elijah  knows  that  his  prayer  is  answered,  and  he  has  hardly 
time  to  send  warning  to  Ahab  before  the  heaven  is  black  with 
storm-clouds,  and  a  rain  that  must  speedily  make  the  roads  im- 
passable has  begun  to  fall. 


236  I    KINGS  18.  45— 1».  2.     Ej 

thy  chariot^  and  get  thee  down,  that  the  rain  stop  thee 

45  not.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  a  Httle  while,  that  the 
heaven  grew  black  with  clouds  and  wind,  and  there  was 
a  great  rain.     And  Ahab  rode,   and   went   to  Jezreel. 

46  And  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  on  Elijah ;  and  he 
girded  up  his  loins,  and  ran  before  Ahab  to  the  entrance 
of  Jezreel. 

19      And  Ahab  told  Jezebel  all  that  Elijah  had  done,  and 

withal  how  he  had  slain  all  the  prophets  with  the  sword. 

3  Then  Jezebel  sent  a  messenger  unto  Elijah,  saying,  So 

let  the  gods  do  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  I  make  not  thy 

46.  From  the  nearest  end  of  Carmel  to  Jezreel  [Zeriii)  would 
be  a  ride  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  miles.  The  object  of  Elijah's 
great  feat  is  not  stated,  and  conjecture  is  useless.  It  is  not  even 
said  that  he  made  himself  a  runner  to  Ahab's  chariot,  but  only  that 
he  reached  Jezreel  before  it.  The  incident  is  recorded  chiefly  as 
a  proof  of  the  supernatural  power  by  which  the  prophet  was 
sustained. 

xix.  1-9*.  Elijah's  Flight  and  Despair.  Threatened  with  the 
vengeance  of  Jezebel,  Elijah  flees  first  to  Beer-sheba  in  the  extreme 
south  of  Judah  ;  and  then  goes  a  day's  journey  into  the  wilderness, 
where,  in  utter  prostration  of  body  and  spirit,  he  throws  himself 
down  under  a  shrub  and  prays  for  death.  He  is  twice  wakened 
from  sleep  by  an  angel,  and  finds  food  and  drink  miraculously 
provided  for  him  ;  thus  refreshed  and  strengthened  he  proceeds 
on  his  long  pilgrimage  to  Horeb,  the  mount  of  God.  Although 
many  features  of  the  narrative  are  obscure,  its  main  conceptions 
convey  an  irresistible  impression  of  truth^jThe  psychological 
reaction  following  on  the  disappointment  of  his  grand  ambition, 
his  temporary  loss  of  faith  in  his  own  mission,  his  craving  for 
some  nearer  contact  with  the  historic  God  of  Israel,  his  sudden 
perception  of  how  little  a  man  can  accomplish,  and  his  consequent 
weariness  of  \\ie-^2i\\  these  things  are  portrayed  with  marvellous 
insight  and  delicacy,  and  invest  the  character  of  Elijah  with  a 
singular  naturalness  and  charm. 

1.  withal  had  better  be  omitted  :  it  is  an  attempt  to  reproduce 
an  ungrammatical  expression  of  the  Hebrew  text,  which  is  found 
in  no  ancient  version. 

2.  Jezebel's  threat  is  in  reality  a  confession  of  impotence  ;  if 
she  had  dared  to  kill  Elijah  she  would  not  have  sent  him  this 
warning.      Her  object  is  to  frighten  him  out  of  the  country.     The 


I    KINGS  19.  ?,  4.     Ej  237 

life  as  the  life  of  one  of  them  by  to-morrow  about  this 
time.  And  when  he  saw  that,  he  arose,  and  went  for  his  3 
life,  and  came  to  Beer-sheba,  which  belongeth  to  Judah, 
and  left  his  servant  there.  But  he  himself  went  a  day's  4 
journey  into  the  wilderness,  and  came  and  sat  down 
under  a  juniper  tree :  and  he  requested  for  himself  that 
he  might  die;  and  said,  It  is  enough;  now,  O  Lord, 
take  away  my  life ;  for  I  am  not  better  than  my  fathers. 


LXX  prefaces  her  asseveration  with  the  words  :  '  As  sure  as  yon 
are  Elijah,  and  I  am  Jezebel,' 

3.  Read,  as  margin  (with  LXX,  &c.), '  And  he  was  afraid.'  The 
scribes  shrank  from  speaking  of  Elijah  and  fear  in  one  breath. 

Beer-sheba  ('Well  of  the  Oath,'  see  Gen.  xxvi.  33)  is  still 
called  Bir  es-Seba',  and  marks  the  southern  limit  of  cultivation 
at  a  point  midway  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Dead  Sea  : 
hence  the  common  O.  T.  phrase  '  from  Dan  to  Beer-sheba '  (iv.  25, 
&c.). 

which  helongreth  to  Judah,  and  was  therefore  be3'ond  the 
jurisdiction  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel.  The  expression  is  commonly 
regarded  as  a  proof  that  the  writer  belonged  to  the  northern 
kingdom  ;  though  what  else  he  could  have  said  if  he  had  been  a 
Judaean  is  not  apparent.  It  is  important  to  note  that  Beer-sheba 
was  an  ancient  sacred  place  much  frequented  by  pilgrims  from 
North  Israel  even  after  the  severance  of  the  two  kingdoms  (see 
Amos  V.  5,  viii.  14).  This  may  have  had  something  to  do  in 
determining  the  direction  of  Elijah's  flight. 

4.  The  craving  for  complete  solitude  leads  him  a  day's  journey 
into  the  wilderness ;  and  there,  unseen  by  any  human  eye,  he 
abandons  himself  to  the  bitterness  of  disenchantment  and  failure. 

a  jnniper  tree :  strictly,  '  a  certain  broom  bush.'  (The  in- 
definite expression  is  repeated  in  verse  5,  showing  that  there  is 
some  irregularity  in  the  text.  It  is,  however,  unnecessary  to 
delete  the  clause  here  as  a  gloss  (Benzinger).)  The  Hebrew 
name  rotem  is  the  same  as  the  Arabic  retem,  which  includes 
several  species  oi genista.  The  shrub  grows  plentifully  along  the 
desert  wadis  between  Palestine  and  Sinai,  and  its  scanty  shelter 
is  taken  advantage  of,  for  want  of  better,  by  the  Bedouin  in  pitch- 
ing their  tents. 

for  Z  am  not  better  than  my  fathers.  His  strength  is  but 
a  man's  strength  after  all,  and  he  has  reached  the  limit  of  human 
endurance  :  life  has  become  a  useless  burden,  because  he  feels  he 
can  never  again  rise  to  the  height  of  the  effort  that  has  failed. 


-238  I    KINGS   19.  5-8.     Ej 

5  And  he  lay  down  and  slept  under  a  juniper  tree ;  and, 
behold,  an  angel  touched  him,  and  said  unto  him,  Arise 

6  and  eat.  And  he  looked,  and,  behold,  there  was  at  his 
head  a  cake  baken  on  the  coals,  and  a  cruse  of  water. 
And  he  did  eat  and  drink,  and  laid  him  down  again. 

7  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  again  the  second  time, 
and  touched  him,  and  said,  Arise  and  eat ;  because  the 

8  journey  is  too  great  for  thee.  And  he  arose,  and  did  eat 
and  drink,  and  went  in  the  strength  of  that  meat  forty 
days  and  forty  nights  unto  Horeb  the  mount  of  God. 


5.  an  auerel:  LXX,  •some  one.'  On  angels  as  intermediaries 
between  God  and  the  prophets,  see  xiii.  18  ;  the  idea  is  one  of 
the  indications  that  have  been  thought  to  point  to  late  composition 
of  the  passage. 

6.  a  cake  .  .  .  coals  means  simply  a  cake  such  as  is  baked  on 
glowing  stones  (as  we  might  speak  of  a  griddle-cake). 

7.  the  anerel  of  the  LOBD  may  be  the  angel  of  verse  5,  not 
necessarily  the  unique  and  mysterious  being  who  is  associated 
with  the  theophany  in  the  earlier  history  (Gen.  xvi.  7  ff.,  xxi.  17  ff., 
xxii.  II  ff.  ;  Judges  vi.  11  flf.,  xiii.  3,  &c.). 

8.  unto  Horeb  the  mount  of  Ood  (Exod.  iii.  i).  On  the 
whole,  the  narrative  gives  the  impression  that  this  was  the  goal  of 
Elijah's  pilgrimage  from  the  first,  though  his  strength  failed  him 
on  the  way  (see  verse  7).  The  source  of  the  impulse  might  be 
twofold  :  (i)  on  the  one  hand,  a  desire  to  meet  the  God  of  Israel 
at  the  very  place  where  the  national  covenant — now  abrogated  by 
national  apostasy — had  been  formed.  (2)  On  the  other  hand, 
there  may  be  the  idea,  appearing  elsewhere  in  the  O.  T.,  that 
Horeb  continued  to  be  the  true  dwelling-place  of  Yahweh  even 
after  the  people  had  entered  Canaan  (Judges  v.  4f.,  Hab.  iii.  3, 
&c.).  In  protesting  against  the  popular  identification  of  Yahweh 
with  the  local  Baals,  Elijah  may  have  repudiated  the  notion  that 
he  was  actually  present  in  every  Israelitish  sanctuary,  and  have 
clung  to  the  thought  that  he  dwelt  in  awful  majesty  amid  the 
thunder-clouds  of  Sinai.  On  either  view  his  impulse  was  to  get 
back  to  the  historic  origins  of  the  national  religion,  and  renew  his 
faith  by  personal  contact  with  the  God  he  served.  The  name 
Horeh  for  the  mount  of  the  Law  is  characteristic  of  the  Elohistic 
document  of  the  Pentateuch  (which  is  supposed  to  have  been 
written  in  North  Israel)  and  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy.  The 
writer  appears  to  have  vague  ideas  of  its  situation  ;  the  Sinai  of 


I    KINGS   19.  9-1  r.     EjZ  239 

And  he  came  thither  unto  a  cave,  and  lodged  there ;  9 
[Z]  and,  behold,  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him,  and 
he  said  unto  him.  What  doest  thou  here,  Ehjah  ?     And  10 
he  said,  I  have  been  very  jealous  for  the  Lord,  the  God 
of  hosts;  for  the  children  of  Israel  have  forsaken  thy 
covenant,  thrown  down  thine  altars,  and  slain  thy  pro- 
phets with  the  sword :  and  I,  even  I  only,  am  left ;  and 
they  seek  my  life,  to  take  it  away.     And  he  said.  Go  11 
forth,   and   stand   upon   the   mount   before  the  Lord. 

tradition  could  easily  be  reached  from  Beer-sheba  in  eight  or  ten 
days. 

S^^-ll*.  The  verses  seem  out  of  place  here,  and  spoil  by  antici- 
pation the  dramatic  eftect  of  the  vision  which  follows.  Verse  11* 
would  lead  us  to  expect  that  Elijah  stood  on  the  mountain  while 
the  theophany  took  place  ;  verse  13  shows  that,  on  the  contrary', 
he  was  still  in  the  cave,  and  only  came  out  when  the  more  violent 
manifestations  of  the  Divine  presence  had  ceased.  The  contradic- 
tion is  not  removed  by  the  LXX's  addition  of  '  to-morrow.'  The 
vei-ses  are  perhaps  a  duplication  of  13'',  14  by  a  later  hand  (Well- 
hausen). 

xix.  11''- 18.  The  Theophany  at  Horeb.  Elijah  is  made  to  realize 
the  presence  of  God  in  a  spectacle  and  an  experience  which  for 
grandeur  and  depth  of  conception  could  hardly  be  surpassed  in 
literature.  The  Lord  passes  by  arrayed  in  the  terrors  of  storm, 
earthquake,  and  fire  ;  but  none  of  these  bring  home  to  the  prophet 
the  immediate  sense  of  God.  It  is  only  in  the  audible  stillness 
which  succeeds  the  fire  that  he  feels  the  mysterious  attraction 
of  the  Divine,  and,  wrapping  his  face  in  his  mantle,  comes  forth  to 
the  entrance  of  the  cave.  Then  in  answer  to  the  heart-searching 
question,  What  doest  thou  here?  he  pours  forth  his  complaint 
against  his  people  ;  and  after  being  commissioned  to  appoint  the 
ministers  of  Divine  vengeance,  he  is  assured  of  the  triumph, 
through  fearful  judgements,  of  the  cause  for  which  he  had  lived. 
The  lesson  of  the  theophany  must  be  gathered  from  the  revelation 
which  accompanies  it  It  is  commonly  conceived  as  a  rebuke  to 
the  impetuous  and  fiery  zeal  of  the  prophet,  and  his  rehance  on 
violent  methods  for  advancing  the  cause  of  God  :  he  is  supposed 
to  learn  here  that  not  fire  and  storm  but  the  still  small  voice  is 
the  fit  emblem  of  the  patient  and  gentle  and  silent  operation  of 
the  spiritual  forces  by  which  the  kingdom  of  God  is  built  up.  (See 
A.  B.  Davidson,  The  Called  of  God,  ch.  vi).  But  that  interpreta- 
tion, however  attractive  in  itself,  does  not  agree  with  the  con- 


240  I    KINGS  19.  12-15.     Ej 

[Ej]  And,  behold,  the  Lord  passed  by,  and  a  great  and 
strong  wind  rent  the  mountains,  and  brake  in  pieces  the 
rocks  before  the  Lord  ;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the 
wind :  and  after  the  wind  an  earthquake ;  but  the  Lord 
I  a  was  not  in  the  earthquake :  and  after  the  earthquake 
a  fire ;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire :  and  after  the 

13  fire  a  still  small  voice.  And  it  was  so,  when  Elijah  heard 
it,  that  he  wrapped  his  face  in  his  mantle,  and  went  out, 
and  stood  in  the  entering  in  of  the  cave.  And,  behold, 
there  came  a  voice  unto  him,  and  said,  What  doest  thou 

14  here,  Elijah  ?  And  he  said,  I  have  been  very  jealous  for 
the  Lord,  the  God  of  hosts ;  for  the  children  of  Israel 
have  forsaken  thy  covenant,  thrown  down  thine  altars, 
and  slain  thy  prophets  with  the  sword  ;  and  I,  even  I 
only,  am  left;  and  they  seek  my  life,  to  take  it  away. 

15  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Go,  return  on  thy  way  to 

eluding  message,  which  unfolds  a  vision  of  judgement  more 
terrible  than  even  Elijah  could  have  wished.  The  significance  of 
the  theophany  lies  rather  in  its  effort  to  express  through  the  least 
sensuous  of  material  symbols  the  spirituality  of  Yahweh.  As 
compared  with  older  representations,  in  which  thunderstorm  and 
earthquake  appear  as  adequate  vehicles  of  the  Divine  presence, 
this  certainly  indicates  an  advance  in  the  conception  of  Yahweh's 
nature. 

11.  The  narrative  is  resumed  after  the  interpolation  with  the 
words  :  And,  behold,  the  ZiOBD. 

12.  a  still  small  voice :  lit.  *  a  sound  of  thin  silence.'  The 
expressive  oxymoron  finds  a  parallel  in  the  hcndiadys  of  Job  iv.  16 
(*  silence  and  a  voice '). 

13.  wrapped  his  face :  that  he  might  not  look  on  God  and  die 
(Gen.  xxxii.  30  ;  Exod.  iii.  6,  xxxiii.  20,  &c.). 

14.  I  have  been  very  jealous.  The  words  express  the  spirit 
of  Elijah's  ministri^,  consuming  zeal  for  Yahweh  and  uncom- 
promising opposition  to  every  object  of  worship  which  sought  to 
share  with  Him  the  honours  of  godhead.  What  the  prophet  com- 
plains of  is  the  entire  suppression  of  the  religion  of  Yahweh, 
which  is,  historically  considered,  an  exaggeration,  though  one  that 
is  natural  in  an  emotional  outburst. 

15.  16.  In  answer  to  his  complaint,  Elijah  is  commanded  to 


I    KINGS  10.  i6-i8.     Ej  241 

the  wilderness  of  Damascus  :   and  when   thou  comest, 
thou  shalt  anoint  Hazael  to  be  king  over  Syria:   and  16 
Jehu  the  son  of  Nimshi  shalt  thou  anoint  to  be  king  over 
Israel :  and  Elisha  the  son  of  Shaphat  of  Abel-meholah 
shalt  thou  anoint  to  be  prophet  in  thy  room.     And  it  17 
shall  come  to  pass,   that  him  that  escapeth  from  the 
sword  of  Hazael  shall  Jehu  slay :  and  him  that  escapeth 
from  the  sword  of  Jehu  shall  Elisha  slay.     Yet  will  I  18 
leave  me  seven  thousand  in  Israel,  all  the  knees  which 
have  not  bowed  unto  Baal,  and  every  mouth  which  hath 


'anoint'  the  three  men  who  in  different  ways  are  to  complete  his 
reformation  by  the  extirpation  of  Baal-worship — Hazael,  Jehu,  and 
Elif;>ja.  Such  a  commission  clearly  implies  that  his  own  life-work 
is  practically  over,  and  that  his  remaining  time  on  earth  will 
be  short.  The  word  'anoint'  is  strictly  applicable  to  the  two 
kings  ;  but  there  is  no  instance  of  the  anointing  of  a  prophet,  and 
even  in  the  case  of  Elisha  the  ceremony  was  not  actually  per- 
formed. 

Abel-meholali  (see  iv.  12)  is  said  by  Eusebius  {OnomasUcon) 
to  be  in  the  Jordan  valley,  ten  Roman  miles  south  of  Scythopolis 
(Beth-shan). 

17.  tlie  sword  of  Hazael  symbolizes  the  Syrian  wars  (cf.  2  Kings 
viii.  12),  whose  disastrous  course  is  fully  recorded  in  the  subsequent 
narratives;  that  of  Jehu  refers  to  the  massacres  described  in 
2  Kings  ix,  x  ;  but  what  is  meant  by  the  sword  of  Elisha  the  history 
does  not  reveal.  There  may  have  been  a  tradition  of  some  stern 
measures  directed  by  Elisha  against  the  devotees  of  Baal,  similar 
to  Elijah's  execution  of  the  prophets  at  Carmel,  although  no  trace 
of  it  appears  in  the  documents  preserved  by  the  compiler.  The 
whole  course  of  events,  indeed,  was  different  from  the  forecast 
given  in  this  verse.  The  sword  of  Hazael  did  not  precede  but 
followed  the  sword  of  Jehu  ;  and  the  brunt  of  the  Syrian  wars 
fell  most  heavily  on  the  house  of  Jehu  hiinself,  champion  of 
Yahweh's  cause  though  he  was.  The  discrepancy  illustrates  the 
freedom  and  idealism  of  O.  T.  prediction,  and  proves  beyond  a 
doubt  that  the  passage  before  us  is  no  invention  of  a  late  writer 
with  an  eye  on  the  fulfilment.  . 

18.  seven  thousand  is  a  round  number  for  the  faithful  minority 
who  will  be  spared  in  the  judgement,  It  is  an  anticipation  o(  the 
later  prophetic  doctrine  of  the  Remnant,  the  pious  kernel,  the 
Israel  within  Israel,  to  whom  belongs  the  promise  of  the  future.    . 

U 


242  I    KINGS  19.  19,  20.     Ej 

19  not  kissed  him.  So  he  departed  thence,  and  found 
Elisha  the  son  of  Shaphat,  who  was  plowing,  with  twelve 
yoke  of  oxen  before  him,  and  he  with  the  twelfth  :  and 
Ehjah  passed  over  unto  him,  and  cast  his  mantle  upon 

20  him.  And  he  left  the  oxen,  and  ran  after  Elijah,  and 
said.  Let  me,  I  pray  thee,  kiss  my  father  and  my  mother, 
and  then  I  will  follow  thee.     And  he  said  unto  him.  Go 

bath  not  kissed  hiiu :    cf.    Hos.  xiii.   2.     The  rite  is  also 
illustrated  by  the  Mohammedan  custom  of  kissing  the  Kaaba. 

xix.  19-21.  The  Call  of  Elisha.  Of  the  three  commissions  en- 
trusted to  Elijah  in  verses  15,  16,  only  one,  and  that  the  last  of 
the  three,  is  reported  to  have  been  actually  carried  out  by  him. 
We  have,  in  fact,  no  record  of  the  anointing  of  Hazael  at  all  (see 
on  2  Kings  viii.  7-15)  ;  the  account  of  the  anointing  of  Jehu  by  an 
cmissar3'^  of  Elisha  (2  Kings  ix)  is  taken  from  an  independentsou?ce, 
which  represents  an  older  tradition  than  that  presupposed  by  this 
narrative.  The  history  of  Elijah  must  have  related  these  incidents 
in  a  form  corresponding  to  verses  15,  16,  and  presumably  in  the 
order  there  prescribed.  This  points  to  the  conclusion  that  there 
is  a  lacuna  in  the  Elijah-document  between  verses  i8  and  19 ;  and 
the  inference  is  strengthened  by  the  observation  that  verse  19  is 
not  the  natural  continuation  of  verses  15-18.  The  explicit  command 
to  go  straight  to  Damascus  by  the  desert  (verse  15)  could  not  with- 
out explanation  be  followed  by  the  statement  that  the  prophet 
went  straight  to  the  middle  Jordan  valley  instead.  We  may 
assume,  therefore,  that  in  the  original  document  verse  19  was 
preceded  immediately  by  the  account  of  the  anointing  of  Jehu, 
and  that  *  thence '  (wherever  it  may  have  been)  Elijah  went  to 
Abel-meholah,  where  he  found  Elisha,  and  threw  his  mantle  over 
him.  The  symbolic  action  was  correctly  interpreted  by  Elisha, 
and  after  a  farewell  feast  with  his  parents  and  friends  he  followed 
Elijah  as  his  personal  attendant. 

19.  lie  departed  thence :  see  above.  The  mantle  of  Elijah 
appears  again  in  2  Kings  ii.  13,  14  as  the  symbol  (and  vehicle)  of  his 
prophetic  gift  (cf.  2  Kings  i.  8,  marg.).  The  garment  of  skin  covered 
with  the  hair  seems  then,  as  in  later  times  (Zech.  xiii.  4  ;  Matt, 
iii.  4\  to  have  been  the  distinctive  garb  of  the  prophet. 

20.  Cf.  Luke  ix.  61.  While  Elisha's  request  is  natural  and 
intelligible,  the  answer  of  Elijah  is  perplexing.  The  easiest  ex- 
planation (though  not  quite  convincing)  is  that  Elijah  grants  his 
request,  and  adds  that  he  has  done  nothing  to  him  that  need 
interfere  with  such  an  expression  of  human  affection.  Other 
senses  suggested  arc  :    •  Go  by  all  means,  yet  [consider]  what  I 


I    KINGS   19.21—20.1.     EjN  243 

back  again;  for  what  have  I  done  to  thee?  And  he  21 
returned  from  following  him,  and  took  the  yoke  of  oxen, 
and  slew  them,  and  boiled  their  flesh  with  the  instruments 
of  the  oxen,  and  gave  unto  the  people,  and  they  did  eat. 
Then  he  arose,  and  went  after  Elijah,  and  ministered 
unto  him. 

[Nj  And  Ben-hadad  the  king  of  Syria  gathered  all  his  20 

have  done  to  thee ' ;  or,  '  Go,  and  come  back  [to  me],  for  [under- 
stand] what  I  have.' 

21.  from  followinGT  him  :  better,  '  from  behind  him,'  or  simply, 
'  from  him.' 

tlie  yoke  of  oxen :  the  pair  v^hich  he  himself  had  been  guid- 
ing (verse  19).  The  act  signifies  for  Elisha  the  breaking  up  of  the 
old  life  and  associations.  That  he  bade  farewell  also  to  his  parents, 
though  not  stated,  is  to  be  understood. 

XX.  A/tab^s  Victories  over  the  Syrians. 
The  chapter  records  a  phase  of  the  long  conflict  between  Israel 
and  Syria,  which  had  commenced  in  the  reign  of  Baaslia  (xv. 
i8flf.),  and  lasted  with  intermissions  till  the  time  of  Jeroboam  II 
(see  verse  34).  Owing  to  the  imperfection  of  the  record  (see 
below)  it  is  impossible  to  say  for  certain  to  what  period  of  Ahab's 
reign  the  incidents  are  to  be  assigned.  The  probability  is  that 
ch.  xxii  was  the  immediate  sequel  of  ch.  xx  in  the  original  document 
to  which  both  belong  ;  and  that  consequently  the  events  here 
related  took  place  about  three  years  before  the  death  of  Ahab. 
A  still  more  interesting  question  is  whether  they  preceded  or 
followed  the  battle  of  Karkar,  which  was  fought  in  854  b.  c,  and 
is  one  of  the  leading  synchronisms  between  Hebrew  and  Assyrian 
history.  An  inscription  of  Shalmaneser  II  tells  how  in  that  year 
he  met  and  defeated  at  Karkar,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hamath,  a  strong 
coalition  of  Syrian  princes  ;  and  amongst  the  names  of  the  con- 
federates are  those  of  Bir'idri  (or  Dad'idri)  of  Damascus  (evidently 
the  head  of  the  league)  and  Ahab  of  Israel,  who  is  said  to  have 
furnished  a  contingent  of  2,000  chariots  and  10,000  men  (see  COT, 
p.  196).  The  identity  of  Ben-hadad  with  the  Bir'idri  of  the  in- 
scription cannot  be  doubted  :  see  on  verse  i.  Here  then  we  find 
Ahab  and  Ben-hadad  fighting  side  by  side  against  a  common  enemy, 
and  the  question  is  how  their  co-operation  is  to  be  explained  in 
the  light  of  the  narrative  before  us.  Two  constructions  suggest 
themselves  :  (i)  Ahab  may  have  been  the  friendly  but  independent 
ally   of  Ben-hadad  at   Karkar ;    in   which   case  it  is  natural   to 

R  2 


244  I    KINGS  20.  i.     N 

host  together :  and  there  were  thirty  and  two  kings  with 
him,  and  horses  and  chariots :    and  he  went   up  and 

suppose  that  the  fighting  of  ch,  xx  was  over  before  that  event,  and 
that  the  alHance  was  the  result  of  Ahab's  singular  generosity  in 
the  hour  of  victor^',  as  related  in  verses  32-34.  (2)  Ahab  may 
have  been  tlie  vassal  of  Ben-hadad,  and  compelled  to  fight  in  the 
ranks  of  the  anti-Assyrian  league.  Such  a  relation  between  the 
two  sovereigns  seems  implied  in  verses  3  f.  ;  hence  the  most 
probable  inference  would  be  that  after  the  battle  of  Karkar  Ahab 
made  an  effort  to  recover  his  independence,  with  the  results  nar- 
rated in  this  chapter.  Recent  historians  seem  pretty  equally 
divided  between  these  two  views,  and  the  point  remains  for  the 
present  in  suspense.  But  if  the  Hebrew  chronology  is  to  be 
strictly  followed,  the  death  of  Ahab  must  have  taken  place  in  the 
same  year  as  the  battle  of  Karkar  (see  Introd.  p.  46). 

The  source  from  which  the  narrative  (along  withxxii.  i-38)istaken 
seems  to  be  a  popular  history  of  the  northern  kingdom,  written  from 
a  political  rather  than  a  religious  standpoint,  and  exhibiting  the 
character  and  policy  of  Ahab  in  a  much  more  favourable  light  than 
is  the  case  in  ch.  xvii-xix  or  xxi.  The  author's  admiration  for  the 
gallantry  and  chivalry  of  his  hero  is  apparent  throughout ;  it  com- 
pels the  sympathy  of  the  reader  in  spite  of  the  darker  features 
emphasized  in  the  other  sections  of  the  history.  It  is  evident 
that  such  a  delineation  of  Ahab's  personality  cannot  come  from 
the  same  pen  as  the  biography  of  Elijah  in  ch.  xvii-xix  ;  and  that 
conclusion  is  confirmed  by  other  points  of  difference,  such  as  the 
attitude  of  Ahab  towards  the  prophets,  the  absence  of  any  allusion 
to  the  worship  of  Baal  or  the  work  of  Elijah,  and  the  introduction 
of  Micaiah  the  son  of  Imlah  as  the  solitary  representative  of  true 
prophecy.  Since  the  narrative  is  too  copious  and  graphic  for  the 
official  annals,  we  must  regard  it  as  an  extract  from  a  larger  in- 
dependent work,  in  which  the  earlier  history  of  the  Syrian  wars 
was  probably  related  with  the  fullness  of  historical  knowledge 
which  characterizes  the  chapters  before  us.  Whether  the 
passages  have  literary  affinities  with  any  of  the  other  documents 
used  by  the  compiler  is  a  matter  which  can  be  considered  later 
(see  on  2  Kings  iii,  vi.  25  ff.,  and  ix-x)  :  for  the  reign  of  Ahab  at 
least  they  stand  entirely  by  themselves. 

XX.  1-22.  The  Siege  and  Relief  of  Samaria.  The  narrative  pre- 
supposes (a)  an  attempt  by  Ahab  to  escape  from  the  relation  of 
vassalage  in  which  he  had  hitherto  stood  to  Damascus  ;  and  pro- 
bably (b)  a  series  of  reverses  in  the  field,  which  had  laid  open  the 
capital  to  the  Sx^rian  army.  Of  these  circumstances  some  account 
was  no  doubt  contained  in  the  part  of  the  document  which  has 
been   omitted   (see  above).     The  story  is  taken  up  at  the  point 


I    KINGS    20.  2,3.     N  245 

besieged  Samaria,  and  fought  against  it.     And  he  sent  2 
messengers  to  Ahab  king  of  Israel,  into  the  city,  and 
said  unto  him,  Thus  saith  Ben-hadad,  Thy  silver  and  3 
thy  gold  is  mine ;  thy  wives  also  and  thy  children,  even 

where  Ben-hadad,  having  invested  Samaria,  proposes  to  Ahab 
humiliating  terms  of  surrender.  It  is  difficult  to  see  wherein  the 
second  proposal  (verses  sf.)  differs  from  the  first  (verse  3)  ;  but 
at  all  events  Ahab  was  ready  to  accept  the  first,  but  flings  back 
the  second  with  a  spirited  and  memorable  defiance.  While  the 
drunken  Ben-hadad  issues  orders  for  an  assault  on  the  city,  Ahab 
leads  out  his  forces  against  him,  and  (by  a  stratagem  ?)  secures  a 
complete  victory  over  the  Syrians.  The  description  of  the  battle 
is  very  obscure, 

1.  The  verse  shows  traces  of  amplification.  A  comparison  of 
the  Hebrew  with  the  LXX  suggests  that  the  original  may  have 
been  :  'And  Ben-hadad  collected  his  whole  army,,  and  came  up  and 
laid  siege  to  Samaria.' 

On  the  thirty  and  two  king's,  see  verse  24. 

Ben-hadad  ('Son  of  [the  god]  Hadad ')  is  the  name  given  to 
three  Syrian  kings  in  the  O.T.  (cf.  xv.  r8  ;  2  Kings  xiii.  24). 
Winckler  (and  Cheyne)  would  reduce  them  to  two  by  identifying 
the  king  here  mentioned  with  the  Ben-hadad  of  xv.  18  ;  but  that, 
though  chronologically  possible,  is  in  contradiction  with  the  allusion 
of  XX.  34.  The  name  in  Shalmaneser's  inscription  is  read  by  some 
Assyriologists  as  Dad'tdri,  by  others  as  Biridri.  If  the  former 
reading  be  correct,  the  real  name  of  the  king  must  have  been 
Hadadezer  (2  Sam.  viii.  3,  &c.),  and  he  is  here  called  Ben-hadad 
by  confusion  with  the  name  of  his  father  Ben-hadad  I.  It  is  much 
more  probable,  however,  that  the  true  form  is  Bir'idri,  and  that  this 
has  been  transformed  into  Ben-hadad  by  two  easily  intelligible 
processes:  (i)  the  Hebrew  Ben- {'■son^)  was  substituted  for  the 
Aramaic  Bar-  (it  would  be  a  mistaken  etymology,  but  that  does 
not  matter)  ;  and  (2)  the  last  consonant  R  was  changed  to  D. 
(Winckler,  Alttest.  Untersuchungen,  p.  68  ff.)  This  theory  is  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  an  intermediate  stage  is  represented  by 
the  LXX,  which  invariably  reads  'son  of  Hader.' 

3  ff.  The  negotiations  are  difficult  to  understand.  Commentators 
have  tried  hard  to  make  out  a  tangible  difference  between  the  first 
and  the  second  demand  of  Ben-hadad  ;  but  their  explanations  are 
all  unsatisfying,  and  no  single  viev^'  can  be  carried  through.  The  best 
is  perhaps  Wellhausen's,  which  is  based  on  the  LXX  reading  of 
verse  7  (see  below)  and  an  emendation  in  verse  3,  which  makes 
the  last  clause  read  •  but  thy  wives  and  thy  children  are  ihine^ 
(The  phrase  even  the  g'oodliest  is  not  in  the  LXX.)     On  this 


246  I    KINGS  20.  4-7.     N 

4  the  goodliest,  are  mine.  And  the  king  of  Israel  answered 
and  said,  It  is  according  to  thy  saying,  my  lord,  O  king ; 

5  I  am  thine,  and  all  that  I  have.  And  the  messengers 
came  again,  and  said,  Thus  speaketh  Ben-hadad,  saying, 
I  sent  indeed  unto  thee,  saying,  Thou  shalt  deliver  me 
thy  silver,  and  thy  gold,  and  thy  wives,  and  thy  children ; 

6  but  I  will  send  my  servants  unto  thee  to-morrow  about 
this  time,  and  they  shall  search  thine  house,  and  the 
houses  of  thy  servants ;  and  it  shall  be,  that  whatsoever 
is  pleasant  in  thine  eyes,  they  shall  put  it  in  their  hand, 

7  and  take  it  away.  Then  the  king  of  Israel  called  all  the 
elders  of  the  land,  and  said,  Mark,  I  pray  you,  and  see 
how  this  man  seeketh  mischief:  for  he  sent  unto  me  for 
my  wives,  and  for  my  children,  and  for  my  silver,  and 

view  Ahab  consents  to  the  surrender  of  his  silver  and  gold,  but 
not  of  his  wives  and  children,  a  distinction  intelligible  enough  in 
itself,  but  hardly  in  accordance  with  the  language  of  verses  4,  5. 
Others  hold  that  in  the  first  instance  Ben-hadad  asks  only  for  the 
sacrifice  of  Ahab's  personal  possessions,  while  in  the  second  he 
demands  the  surrender  of  the  city  ;  that,  however,  lays  an  empha- 
sis on  the  words  '  and  the  houses  of  thy  servants  *  (verse  6)  which 
the  construction  does  not  warrant.  Another  view  (which  is 
naturally  suggested  by  the  contrast  of  verses  5  and  6,  but  finds  no 
support  in  verse  7)  is  that  Ahab,  while  ready  to  yield  all  that  is 
asked,  resents  the  indignity  of  having  his  palace  ransacked  by 
the  minions  of  Ben-hadad.  It  is  possible  that  the  confusion  was 
in  the  mind  of  the  writer  himself,  who  may  have  reported  the 
circumstances  at  second-hand,  without  a  clear  perception  of  the 
precise  point  at  issue, 

5,  6.  The  expression  for  "but  at  the  beginning  of  verse  6  is 
usually  preceded  by  a  negative  sentence  ;  hence  Klostermann 
amends  verse  5  so  as  to  read,  '  I  did  not  send  to  thee,  saying,  Thou 
shalt  give  me  .  .  .  ;  but  to-morrow  I  will  send  .  .  .  and  they  shall 
take  it,'  bringing  out  the  contrast  between  a  voluntary  surrender 
and  a  humiliating  search. 

For  pleasant  in  thine  eyes  it  is  better  to  read,  with  LXX, 
*  pleasant  in  their  eyes.' 

7.  The  LXX  rendering  referred  to  above  is  :  '  for  he  has  sent 
to  me  for  my  wives  and  for  my  sons  [and  for  my  daughters]  ;  my 
silver  and  my  gold  I  have  not  withheld  from  him.' 


I    KINGS  20.  8-H.     N  247 

for  my  gold  ;  and  I  denied  him  not.     And  all  the  elders    8 
and  all  the  people  said  unto  him,  Hearken  thou  not, 
neither  consent.     Wherefore  he  said  unto  the  messengers    9 
of  Ben-hadad,  Tell  my  lord  the  king,  All  that  thou  didst 
send  for  to  thy  servant  at  the  first  I  will  do :  but  this 
thing  I  may  not  do.     And  the  messengers  departed,  and 
brought  him  word  again.     And    Ben-hadad  sent   unto  ro 
him,  and  said.  The  gods  do  so  unto  me,  and  more  also, 
if  the  dust  of  Samaria  shall  suffice  for  handfuls  for  all 
the  people  that   follow  me.     And   the  king  of  Israel  n 
answered  and  said,  Tell  him.  Let  not  him  that  girdeth 
on  his  artnour  boast  himself  as  he  that  putteth  it  off. 
And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Ben-hadad  heard  this  message,  12 
as  he  was  drinking,  he  and  the  kings,  in  the  pavilions, 
that  he  said  unto  his  servants,  Set  yourselves  in  array. 
And  they  set  themselves  in  array  against  the  city.     And,  13 
behold,  a  prophet  came  near  unto  Ahab  king  of  Israel, 
and  said,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Hast  thou  seen  all  this 
great  multitude  ?  behold,  I  will  deliver  it  into  thine  hand 
this  day;    and  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord. 
And  Ahab  said,  By  whom?    And  he  said,  Thus  saith  14 

10.  Ben-hadad  boasts  that  he  has  men  enough  to  pulverize  the 
city  and  carry  it  away  in  handfuls. 

11.  Tell  Mxn.  The  LXX  reads  more  forcibly,  '  Enough  M' 
Ahab's  reply  is  a  pithy  proverb,  to  which  parallels  can  be  found 
in  any  language  ;  cf.  the  Latin,  Ne  trinmphtim  canas  ante 
victoriatn. 

12.  in  the  pavilions:  strictly,  'booths,'  temporary  shelters 
for  soldiers  in  the  field  (cf.  2  Sam.  xi.  11).  The  word  Set  is  a 
technical  military  term,  which  may  be  understood  either  of  the 
formation  of  storming  parties  or  (as  marg.)  of  the  erection  of 
battering  engines  :  the  one  view  is  just  as  likely  to  be  correct  as 
the  other  (cf.  Ezek.  xxiii.  24). 

13.  14.  The  intervention  of  a  prophet  at  this  juncture  appears 
to  many  critics  uncalled-for  and  incredible ;    but  the  two  verses 


'  -\h  n  for  nan. 


248  I    KINGS    20.  15-19.     N 

the  Lord,  By  the  young  men  of  the  princes  of  the  pro- 
vinces.    Then  he  said,  Who  shall  begin  the  battle  ?    And 

15  he  answered,  Thou.  Then  he  mustered  the  young  men 
of  the  princes  of  the  provinces,  and  they  were  two 
hundred  and  thirty  two :  and  after  them  he  mustered  all 
the  people,  even  all  the  children  of  Israel,  being  seven 

I'*  thousand.  And  they  went  out  at  noon.  But  Ben-hadad 
was  drinking  himself  drunk  in  the  pavilions,  he  and  the 

17  kings,  the  thirty  and  two  kings  that  helped  him.  And 
the  young  men  of  the  princes  of  the  provinces  went  out 
first ;  and  Ben-hadad  sent  out,  and  they  told  him,  saying, 

18  There  are  men  come  out  from  Samaria.  And  he  said. 
Whether  they  be  come  out  for  peace,  take  them  alive; 
or  whether  they  be  come  out  for  war,  take  them  alive. 

19  So  these  went  out  of  the  city,  the  young  men  of  the 
princes  of  the  provinces,  and  the  army  which  followed 


seem  too  closely  wrought  into  the  narrative  to  be  treated  as  an 
interpolation.  Apart  from  them  we  have  no  explanation  of  the 
very  peculiar  mode  of  attack  adopted  by  Ahab. 

15.  young*  men  .  .  .  provinces  :  servants  of  the  provincial 
governors.  The  word  for  province  {medinah)  is  used  in  the  O.  T. 
only  in  its  primary  sense  of  ^  administrative  district,'  and  nlwaj-s 
in  late  books  except  here.  In  Syriac  and  Arabic  it  is  the  common 
word  for  'city.'  Why  these  men  were  chosen  to  lead  the  sally 
does  not  appear.  The  view  of  some  commentators,  that  they 
were  sent  out  as  non-combatants  with  an  army  concealed  behind 
them,  has  little  foundation  in  the  text.  They  seem  to  have  gone 
out  alone  (verse  17)  ;  and  so  far  as  the  victory  can  be  explained 
by  natural  causes,  it  was  due  to  the  drunken  folly  of  Ben-hadad, 
in  breaking  up  his  battle-line  to  capture  the  insignificant  band 
alive  (verse  18). 

1*1.  and  Ben-hadad  sent:  better,  as  LXX,  'and  they  sent 
and  told  Ben-hadad.' 

19.  and  the  army  which  followed  them.  If  they  had  been 
followed  by  an  army  (of  7,000  men)  Ben-hadad  would  have  been 
in  no  doubt  whether  they  meant  peace  or  war ;  moreover  the 
army  must  have  been  with  the  king  when  he  issued  from  the  city 
(verse  21).  There  are  other  indications  of  textual  disorder,  which 
might  be  remedied  if  (with  Doorninck  and  Kittel)  we  transpose 


I    KINGS  20.  20-25.     N  249 

them.      And   they  slew  every  one  his  man ;    and   the  20 
Syrians  fled,  and  Israel  pursued  them :   and  Ben-hadad 
the  king  of  Syria  escaped  on  an  horse  with  horsemen. 
And  the  king  of  Israel  went  out,  and  smote  the  horses  21 
and  chariots,  and  slew  the  Syrians  with  a  great  slaughter. 
And  the  prophet  came  near  to  the  king  of  Israel,  and  22 
said  unto  him,  Go,  strengthen  thyself,  and  mark,  and  see 
what  thou  doest :  for  at  the  return  of  the  year  the  king 
of  Syria  will  come  up  against  thee. 

And  the  servants  of  the  king  of  Syria  said  unto  him,  23 
Their  god  is  a  god  of  the  hills;    therefore  they  were 
stronger  than  we  :    but  let  us  fight  against  them  in  the 
plain,  and  surely  we  shall  be  stronger  than  they.     And  24 
do  this  thing ;  take  the  kings  away,  every  man  out  of  his 
place,  and  put  captains  in  their  room  :  and  number  thee  25 

verses  20  and  21,  and  render  the  passage  thus  :  '  (19)  And  when 
these  had  gone  out  from  the  city  .  .  .  (21)  the  king  of  Israel  went 
out  with  the  army  after  them,  and  captured  (so  LXX)  the  horses 
and  chariots  .  .  .  (20)  And  they  smote  each  his  man,  and  the 
Syrians  fled  and  Israel  pursued  them,  and  Ben-hadad  the  king  of 
Syria  escaped  on  a  chariot  horse.* 

22.  The  prophet  warns  Ahab  that  the  Syrians  will  renew  the 
attack  in  the  following  year. 

XX.  23-34.  The  Syrians  defeated  at  Aphek.  The  counsellors 
of  Ben-hadad  explain  his  defeat  by  the  theory  that  the  Hebrew 
deities,  as  hill-gods,  had  naturally  proved  invincible  in  the  hilly 
country  round  Samaria  ;  and  advise  him  to  try  conclusions  with 
them  next  time  in  the  plains.  Accordingly,  in  the  following  year, 
the  two  armies  meet  at  Aphek,  in  the  Plain  of  Sharon,  where 
Ahab,  again  encouraged  by  the  anonymous  prophet,  achieves  a 
still  more  brilliant  victory  over  the  Syrian  host.  Ben-hadad 
abjectly  sues  for  his  life,  but  is  received  by  Ahab  with  royal 
honours  and  set  at  liberty,  after  engaging  to  restore  the  cities 
which  his  father  had  conquered,  and  to  grant  certain  trading  rights 
in  Damascus  to  Israelitish  subjects. 

24.  The  idea  underlying  the  verse  seems  to  be  that  the  Syrian 
army  was  composed  of  thirty-two  corps  (see  xxii.  31),  that  these  had 
originally  been  commanded  by  feudatory  kings,  who  are  now  to 
be  replaced  by  Syrian  officers.  But  the  term  rendered  captains 
means  '  satraps  '    pahoth.  a  loan-word,  see  on  x.  15),  which  implies 


250  I    KINGS  20.  26-30.     N 

an  army,  like  the  army  that  thou  hast  lost,  horse  for 
horse,  and  chariot  for  chariot :  and  we  will  fight  against 
them  in  the  plain,  and  surely  we  shall  be  stronger  than 
they.     And  he  hearkened  unto  their  voice,  and  did  so. 

26  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  return  of  the  year,  that 
Ben-hadad  mustered  the  Syrians,  and  went  up  to  Aphek, 

37  to  fight  against  Israel.  And  the  children  of  Israel  were 
mustered,  and  were  victualled,  and  went  against  them : 
and  the  children  of  Israel  encamped  before  them  like 
two  little   flocks  of   kids;    but  the  Syrians   filled  the 

28  country.  And  a  man  of  God  came  near  and  spake  unto 
the  king  of  Israel,  and  said.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Be- 
cause the  Syrians  have  said.  The  Lord  is  a  god  of  the 
hills,  but  he  is  not  a  god  of  the  valleys ;  therefore  will 
I  deliver  all  this  great  multitude  into  thine  hand,  and  ye 

39  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  And  they  encamped 
one  over  against  the  other  seven  days.  And  so  it  was, 
that  in  the  seventh  day  the  battle  was  joined ;  and  the 
children   of   Israel    slew  of   the   Syrians    an    hundred 

30  thousand   footmen  in  one  day.      But  the  rest  fled  to 

a  rearrangement  of  civil  administration  rather  than  a  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  army.     The  verse  is  possibly  an  interpolation. 

26.  at  the  return  of  the  year :  cf.  2  Sam.  xi.  i,  '  the  time 
when  kings  go  out  to  battle.' 

Aphek  appears  to  have  regularly  served  as  the  base  for  the 
Syrian  invasions  of  Israel  (see  a  Kings  xiii.  17).  Its  situation  is 
much  disputed.  Most  probably  it  is  to  be  identified  with  the  Aphek 
of  I  Sam.  xxix.  i,  and  lay  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Plain  of 
Sharon  (see  on  2  Kings  xiii.  22  ;  and  cf.  G,  A.  Smith  in  EB,  i. 
c.  191  f.). 

27.  and  were  victualled  is  a  somewhat  peculiar  notice,  omit- 
ted by  the  LXX.  Benzinger's  conjecture  that  the  word  is  a 
corruption  of  a  place-name,  the  rendezvous  of  the  Israelites, 
deserves  consideration.  The  word  rendered  *  little  flocks '  occurs 
only  here,  and  is  of  uncertain  signification.  Nor  does  it  appear 
why  the  Israelites  are  compared  to  iico  flocks,  instead  of  one. 

28.  Read,  with  marg.,  '  the  '  man  of  God,  the  same  individual  as 
in  verses  13,  22.     See  on  xii.  2a. 


I    KINGS  20.31-33.     N       '  251 

Aphek,  into  the  city ;  and  the  wall  fell  upon  twenty  and 
seven  thousand  men  that  were  left.  And  Ben-hadad 
fled,  and  came  into  the  city,  into  an  inner  chamber. 
And  his  servants  said  unto  him,  Behold  now,  we  have  p,i 
heard  that  the  kings  of  the  house  of  Israel  are  merciful 
kings :  let  us,  we  pray  thee,  put  sackcloth  on  our  loins, 
and  ropes  upon  our  heads,  and  go  out  to  the  king  of 
Israel :  peradventure  he  will  save  thy  life.  So  they  32 
girded  sackcloth  on  their  loins,  and  put  ropes  on  their 
heads,  and  came  to  the  king  of  Israel,  and  said,  Thy 
servant  Ben-hadad  saith,  I  pray  thee,  let  me  live.  And 
he  said,  Is  he  yet  alive  ?  he  is  my  brother.  Now  the  33 
men  observed  diligently,  and  hasted  to  catch  whether  it 
were  his  mind ;  and  they  said.  Thy  brother  Ben-hadad. 
Then  he  said,  Go  ye,  bring  him.  Then  Ben-hadad  came 
forth  to  him;  and  he  caused  him  to  come  up  into  the 


30.  the  wall  fell  upon  twenty  and  seven  thousand  cannot  be 
understood  otherwise  than  literally  :  Benzinger's  suggestion  that 
it  is  a  figurative  way  of  saying  that  that  number  perished  when  the 
wall  was  taken  is  not  admissible.  No  doubt  the  numbers,  both 
in  this  verse  and  the  preceding,  excite  surprise. 

into  an  inner  chamber:  lit.  'chamber  for  chamber,'  or  *a 
chamber  within  a  chamber '  :  the  expression  recurs  in  xxii.  25, 
a  Kings  ix.  2. 

31.  This  tribute  to  the  humanity  of  the  Hebrew  kings,  which 
is  probably  a  reflection  of  the  national  character,  is  extremely 
interesting. 

ropes  upon  our  heads  cannot  well  mean  '  halters  round  our 
necks,'  like  the  burghers  of  Calais  before  Edward  III.  Although 
the  custom  is  not  elsewhere  mentioned  in  the  O.  T.,  the  rope 
was  probably  at  one  time  the  headgear  of  the  humblest  classes 
(see  Nowack,  Archaologie,  i.  p.  125)  ;  and,  like  the  sackcloth 
on  the  loins,  was  assumed  by  others  as  a  mark  of  the  deepest 
humiliation. 

33.  Render,  '  Now  the  men  took  it  as  an  omen,  and  eagerly 
snatched  it  from  him,  and  said '  (cf.  LXX,  '  caught  up  the  word 
from  his  mouth  ')  ;  i.e.  they  seize  on  the  word  '  brother,'  which 
had  fallen  from  Ahab's  lips,  and  hold  him  to  it. 


252  I    KINGS  20.  34,  ?5.     NZ 

34  chariot.  And  Ben-hadad  said  unto  him,  The  cities 
which  my  father  took  from  thy  father  I  will  restore ;  and 
thou  shalt  make  streets  for  thee  in  Damascus,  as  my 
father  made  in  Samaria.  And  I,  said  Ahab,  will  let  thee 
go  with  this  covenant.  So  he  made  a  covenant  with 
him,  and  let  him  go. 

35  [Z]  And  a  certain  man  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  said 

34.  We  learn  here  for  the  first  time  that  Omri  had  been  obUged, 
not  only  to  cede  territory  to  Damascus,  but  to  grant  trading 
facilities  to  Aramaean  merchants  in  Samaria.  Ahab  now  secures 
similar  privileges  for  his  subjects  in  Damascus. 

streets,  or  '  bazaars  '  ;  cf.  the  Arabic  sftk,  which  has  the  same 
double  sense. 

And  X,  said  Ahab.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  words 
are  Ahab's  ;  but  something  indicating  the  change  of  speaker  must 
have  fallen  out  of  the  text.  To  change  the  verb,  with  Wellhausen, 
to  second  person,  'thou  shalt  let  me  go,'  is  less  natural. 

XX.  35-43.  Ahafs  Leniency  denounced  by  a  Prophet.  The 
clemency  shown  by  Ahab  to  his  fallen  foe,  whether  well-advised 
or  fatuous,  was  no  doubt  severely  criticized  by  many  of  his 
subjects  ;  and  in  no  quarter  was  dissatisfaction  more  likely  to  be 
felt  than  in  those  nurseries  of  religious  and  patriotic  enthusiasm, 
the  prophetic  schools.  A  member  of  one  of  these  fraternities 
gives  expression  to  this  feeling  by  an  acted  parable,  in  which  he 
plays  the  part  of  a  man  wounded  in  the  recent  fight,  who  had 
incurred  the  forfeit  of  his  life  by  letting  slip  a  prisoner  who  had 
been  committed  to  his  charge.  Having  put  this  case  before  the 
king,  and  been  refused  redress,  he  suddenly  throws  off  his  disguise, 
and  (like  Nathan  on  a  well-known  occasion)  shows  the  astonished 
Ahab  that  he  has  unwittingly  passed  sentence  on  himself.  For 
setting  free  an  enemy  who  had  fallen  under  Yahweh's  ban  he  and 
his  people  would  have  to  bear  the  penalty  that  ought  to  have  been 
exacted  of  the  conquered  Syrian.  The  incident,  if  genuine,  throws 
an  important  light  on  the  fierce  excitement  prevailing  in  the 
prophetic  societies  of  the  time.  At  the  same  time,  the  section 
embodies  a  judgement  on  Ahab's  conduct,  which  is  certainly'  not 
prepared  for  by  what  goes  before  ;  and  there  are  striking  coinci- 
dences with  ch.  xiii,  which,  together  with  the  want  of  any 
connexion  with  what  precedes  or  follows,  have  led  several  writers 
(like  Wellhausen),  to  assign  the  passage  to  a  late  period.  It  is 
worthy  of  mention,  however,  that  the  verses  as  a  whole  made  on 
Kuenen  the  impression  of  high  antiquity. 

36.  the  sons  of  the  prophets,   here  mentioned  for  the  first 


I    KINGS  20.  .^6-38.     Z  253 

unto  his  fellow  by  the  word  of  the  I^okd,  Smite  me,  I 
pray  thee.     And  the  man  refused  to  smite  him.     Then  30 
said  he  unto  him,  Because  thou  hast  not  obeyed  the 
voice  of  the  Lord,  behold,  as  soon  as  thou  art  departed 
from  me,  a  lion  shall  slay  thee.     And  as  soon  as  he  was 
departed  from  him,  a  lion  found  him,  and  slew  him. 
Then  he  found  another  man,  and  said.  Smite  me,  I  pray  37 
thee.     And  the  man  smote  him,  smiting  and  wounding 
him.     So  the  prophet  departed,  and  waited  for  the  king  38 
by  the  way,  and  disguised  himself  with  his  headband 

time,  frequently  appear  in  the  subsequent  history  (2  Kings  ii,  passim, 
iv.  I,  38,  V.  22,  vi.  I,  ix.  i),  always,  except  here,  in  connexion 
with  the  work  of  Elisha.  In  Semitic  idiom  the  phrase  {bne 
hannebtim)  means  no  more  than  '  members  of  the  prophetic 
guilds'  or  communities,  of  which  the  individual  member  might  be 
described  indifferently  as  nabV  simply  (verse  38;  2  Kings  ix.  4),  or 
as  be)i  ndbV  (Amos  vii.  14).  Prophecy  in  Israel  had  been  from  the 
first  a  social  phenomenon,  gathering  men  together  in  companies, 
and  drawing  susceptible  natures  into  its  circle  (i  Sam.  x.  10  if., 
xix.  20  ff.)  ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  between  the  times  of  Samuel 
and  Elisha  a  somewhat  stricter  organization  of  these  societies  had 
been  developed.  The  little  we  know  of  their  manner  of  life  is 
gathered  from  the  passages  just  referred  to.  We  learn  that  they 
had  fixed  settlements,  probably  in  connexion  with  local  sanctuaries 
(Beth-el,  Gilgal,  &c. :  2  Kings  ii) ;  that  though  coenobites  (iv.  38  ff., 
vi.  iff.)  they  were  not  celibates  (iv.  iff.);  and  that  they  were 
supported  in  part  by  charitable  gifts  of  the  laity  (iv.  42,  v.  22). 
They  appear  to  have  acknowledged  Elisha  as  their  head,  but  that 
they  were  the  personal  disciples  of  him  or  any  other  great  prophet 
is  nowhere  suggested.  It  is  therefore  only  in  a  ver}'-  loose  sense 
that  such  communities  can  be  spoken  of  as  '  schools ' ;  and  the 
traditional  idea  that  they  were  theological  seminaries  for  the 
training  of  candidates  for  the  prophetic  office  is  altogether 
misleading. 

by  the  word  of  the  XiOBD.     See  on  xiii.  i. 

36.  Other  points  of  resemblance  to  ch.  xiii  are  the  requirement 
of  mechanical  obedience  to  a  prophetic  oracle,  and  the  punishment 
of  disobedience  by  the  agency  of  a  lion. 

38.  his  headband:  rather,  *a  bandage.'  The  word  (dpfter) 
occurs  only  here  and  verse  41  ;  but  the  meaning  is  guaranteed  by 
Assyrian.  The  A. V.  followed  the  Vulg.  in  reading  ^epher,  'with 
ashes  upon  his  face.' 


254  I    KINGS  20.  39— 21.  I.     Z  Ef 

39  over  his  eyes.  And  as  the  king  passed  by,  he  cried 
unto  the  king :  and  he  said,  Thy  servant  went  out  into 
the  midst  of  the  battle;  and,  behold,  a  man  turned 
aside,  and  brought  a  man  unto  me,  and  said,  Keep  this 
man  :  if  by  any  means  he  be  missing,  then  shall  thy  life 
be  for  his  life,  or  else  thou  shalt  pay  a  talent  of  silver. 

40  And  as  thy  servant  was  busy  here  and  there,  he  was 
gone.     And  the  king  of  Israel  said  unto  him,  So  shall 

41  thy  judgement  be ;  thyself  hast  decided  it.  And  he 
hasted,  and  took  the  headband  away  from  his  eyes ;  and 
the  king  of  Israel  discerned  him  that  he  was  of  the 

42  prophets.  And  he  said  unto  him.  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
Because  thou  hast  let  go  out  of  thy  hand  the  man  whom 
I  had  devoted  to  destruction,  therefore  thy  hfe  shall  go 

43  for  his  life,  and  thy  people  for  his  people.  And  the  king 
of  Israel  went  to  his  house  heavy  and  displeased,  and 
came  to  Samaria. 

21      [Ej2]  And  it  came  to  pass  after  these  things,  that  Naboth 

40.  busy  here  and  there :  lit.  *  doing  those  things  and  those. " 
But  all  ancient  versions  read  more  appropriately,  '  looking  here 
and  there.' 

41.  discerned  him  that  he  was  of  the  prophets.  It  would 
seem,  though  there  is  no  other  evidence  of  the  fact,  that  the 
prophets  at  this  time  bore  some  distinctive  mark  on  their  persons, 
which  could  be  concealed  by  a  bandage  over  the  eyes. 

42.  the  man  .  .  .  destruction :  lit.  '  the  man  of  my  ban ' 
(cf.  Isa.  xxxiv.  5).  The  Hebrew  word  is  herem,  which  is  used  in 
its  strict  and  original  sense  of  dedication  to  utter  destruction  of  the 
spoils  of  war  (see  Driver,  Notes  on  Samuel,  p.  100  ff.). 

43.  heavy  and  displeased :  cf.  xxi.  4. 

xxi.  Nabotli's  Vineyard. 

The  chapter  obviously  breaks  the  connexion  between  ch.  xx  and 
xxii ;  and  it  is  possible  that  it  may  have  stood  originally  after 
ch.  xix,  as  in  the  LXX.  By  the  majority  of  critics  it  is  regarded 
as  the  continuation  of  the  history  of  Elijah  in  ch.  xvii-xix.  The 
arguments  for  that  view  arc  not  convincing,  although  they  do 


I    KINGS  21.  2.     Ef-  255 

the  Jezreelite  had  a  vineyard,  which  was  in  Jezreel,  hard 
by  the  palace  of  Ahab  king  of  Samaria.     And  Ahab  2 

undoubtedly  sliow  that  ch.  xxi  is  much  more  closely  akin  to 
ch.  xvii-xix  than  to  ch.  xx,  xxii.  The  most  noticeable  points 
of  affinity  are  the  prominence  given  to  Elijah,  and  the  conception 
of  the  character  of  Ahab  as  a  weak  man  dominated  by  the  strong- 
willed  and  unscrupulous  Jezebel.  The  irascible  question  of  verse  20, 
moreover,  presupposes  some  previous  encounter  between  the  king 
and  the  prophet,  such  as  that  of  xviii.  17.  On  the  other  side,  it 
has  to  be  observed  that  (i)  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  the 
central  interest  of  the  writer  of  ch.  xxi  is  the  personality  of  Elijah. 
(a)  The  career  of  Elijah  finds  its  natural  termination  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  his  successor,  and  it  is  not  just  probable  that  the  same 
author  should  after  that  introduce  him  again  on  the  stage  of 
public  affairs.  The  only  natural  place  for  the  incident  in  the  life 
of  Elijah  would  be  between  verses  18  and  19  of  ch.  xix.     But 

(3)  it  has  been  remarked  by  Ewald  that  the  murder  of  Naboth 
probably  did  more  to  bring  about  the  revolution  in  which  the 
house  of  Omri  perished  than  the  religious  policy  of  Ahab  ;  and  it 
may  be  added  that  the  contest  on  Carmel  becomes  much  more 
intelligible  on  the  supposition  that  the  heart  of  the  people  had 
been  already  stirred  by  the  knowledge  of  this  hideous  crime  : 
that,  however,  is  impossible  if  ch.  xxi  be  the  sequel  to  ch.  xix. 

(4)  Ch.  xxi,  unlike  ch.  xvii-xix,  has  been  manipulated  by  the 
compiler,  whose  hand  is  clearly  recognizable  in  the  style  of 
verses  20  ''-24.  The  narrative  is  in  fact  closely  parallel  to  xiv.  1-16 
(cf  xvi.  1-4)  :  it  gives  the  usual  prophetic  announcement  of  the 
downfall  of  the  dynasty,  and  the  role  ascribed  to  Elijah  is  not 
more  prominent  than  that  of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite,  or  Jehu  the  son 
of  Hanani  in  the  earlier  incidents.  If,  therefore,  the  passage  was 
extracted  from  a  history  of  Elijah,  it  would  appear  to  have  been 
a  different  document  from  ch.  xvii-xix,  as  well  as  from  ch.  xx, 
xxii.  Burney  tries  to  prove  that  ch.  xxi  belongs  to  the  same 
source  as  2  Kings  ix.  i — x.  28  ;  but  his  reasoning  appears  one-sided 
and  inconclusive  (see  his  Notes,  p.  210  flf.). 

xxi.  1-4.  Naboth's  Refusal  to  sell  his  Vineyard.  The  tragic 
incident  originates  in  a  perfectly  reasonable  and  just  proposal  of 
Ahab  to  his  humble  neighbour  Naboth  for  the  purchase  of  a  vine- 
yard closely  adjoining  the  palace  at  Jezreel.  Naboth,  however, 
true  to  the  conservative  instincts  of  his  class,  refuses  on  religious 
grounds  to  alienate  his  patrimony.  The  king  takes  this  un- 
expected thwarting  of  his  wish  so  much  to  heart  that  he  retires 
to  his  couch,  refusing  to  eat  till  Jezebel  comes  to  his  assistance. 

1.  The  LXX  does  not  contain  the  words,  after  these  things, 
nor  the  superfluous  clause,  which  was  in  Jezreel.     Jezreel  was 


256  I    KINGS  21.  3-6.     Ef 

spake  unto  Naboth,  saying,  Give  me  thy  vineyard,  that  I 
may  have  it  for  a  garden  of  herbs,  because  it  is  near  unto 
my  house ;  and  I  will  give  thee  for  it  a  better  vineyard 
than  it :  or,  if  it  seem  good  to  thee,  I  will  give  thee  the 

3  worth  of  it  in  money.  And  Naboth  said  to  Ahab,  The 
Lord  forbid  it  me,  that  I  should  give  the  inheritance  of 

4  my  fathers  unto  thee.  And  Ahab  came  into  his  house 
heavy  and  displeased  because  of  the  word  which  Naboth 
the  Jezreelite  had  spoken  to  him  :  for  he  had  said,  I  will 
not  give  thee  the  inheritance  of  my  fathers.  And  he 
laid  him  down  upon  his  bed,  and  turned  away  his  face, 

5  and  would  eat  no  bread.  But  Jezebel  his  wife  came  to 
him,  and  said  unto  him.  Why  is  thy  spirit  so  sad,  that 

6  thou  eatest  no  bread  ?  And  he  said  unto  her.  Because 
I  spake  unto  Naboth  the  Jezreelite,  and  said  unto  him. 
Give  me  thy  vineyard  for  money;   or  else,  if  it  please 


apparently  the  summer  residence  of  Ahab — a  second  capital  where 
some  of  the  most  thrilling  events  of  the  time  were  transacted  (xviii. 
46  ;  2  Kings  ix.  16  if.,  3off.\  It  is  the  modern  Zer'tn,  at  the  head 
of  the  valley  of  the  same  name,  which  descends  eastward  towards 
the  Jordan.  Naboth  is  here  a  Jezreelite,  as  in  2  Kings  ix.  ai,  25  f. ; 
the  writer  of  xxii.  38  seems  to  have  followed  a  different  tradition 
which  transferred  the  incident  to  Samaria. 

3.  See  Lev.  xxv.  23  ff.,  Num.  xxxvi.  7  ff. 

4.  The  first  half  of  the  verse  (down  to  fathers)  is  wanting  in 
the  LXX,  which  reads  instead,  'And  the  spirit  of  Ahab  was 
troubled.'  With  this  change  the  linguistic  resemblance  to  xx.  43 
disappears. 

turned  away  his  face — to  the  wall ;  cf,  2  Kings  xx.  2.     The 
LXX  has,  '  covered  his  face.' 

xxi.  5-16.  Jezebel  compasses  the  Death  of  Naboth  and  the  Confis- 
cation of  his  Property.  The  queen,  having  ascertained  the  cause  of 
her  lord's  disquietude,  affects  surprise  at  his  pusillanimity,  and 
undertakes  to  put  him  in  secure  possession  of  Naboth's  vineyard. 
She  issues  an  order  to  the  elders  of  Jezreel  to  have  Naboth  put  on 
his  trial  on  a  trumped-up  charge  of  treason.  Her  directions  are 
carried  out  to  the  letter  by  the  obsequious  elders.  Naboth  and  his 
sons    being   publicly   stoned   to   death    outside   the   city.     Ahab 


I    KINGS  21.  7-10.     Ef  257 

thee,  I  will  give  thee  another  vineyard  for  it :   and  he 
answered,    I    will    not    give   thee   my   vineyard.     And   7 
Jezebel  his  wife  said  unto  him,  Dost  thou  now  govern 
the  kingdom  of  Israel?    arise,  and  eat   bread,  and  let 
thine  heart  be  merry :    I  will  give  thee  the  vineyard  of 
Naboth  the  Jezreelite.     So  she  wrote  letters  in  Ahab's   8 
name,  and  sealed  them  with  his  seal,  and  sent  the  letters 
unto  the  elders  and  to  the  nobles  that  were  in  his  city, 
and  that  dwelt  with   Naboth.     And   she  wrote  in  the   9 
letters,  saying,  Proclaim  a  fast,  and  set  Naboth  on  high 
among  the  people :    and  set  two  men,  sons  of  Belial,  10 
before   him,  and   let   them   bear   witness   against   him, 
saying,  Thou  didst  curse  God  and  the  king.     And  then 


then  goes  down  (from  Samaria  ?)  to  take  formal  possession  of  the 
vineyard. 

7.  Dost  thou  .  .  .  ?  Better, '  Dost  thou  now  exercise  royal  au- 
thority over  Israel  ? '  In  other  words,  '  What  is  the  good  of  being 
a  king,  if  you  cannot  have  your  way  in  so  trifling  a  matter  ? ' 

8.  Ahab  and  Jezebel  would  seem  to  have  been  Hving  at  the  time 
in  Samaria. 

nobles,  or  '  freemen  * :  an  Aramaic  word,  elsewhere  found 
only  in  late  passages  (especially  Nehemiah).  It  may  be  here 
a  gloss  on  'elders.'  On  the  latter,  see  on  viii.  2.  The  LXX  omits 
*  that  were  in  his  city.' 

9.  Proclaim  a  fast.  Fasting  is  everywhere  in  the  O.  T.  a  sign 
of  humiliation  before  God.  The  idea  here  seems  to  be  that  the 
community  Hes  under  the  anger  of  the  Deity,  on  account  of  a  grave 
crime  committed  by  one  of  its  members,  which  is  to  be  exposed 
and  punished.  The  place  'at  the  head  of  the  people  (marg.) 
which  Naboth  is  to  occupy  can  hardly  be  the  seat  of  honour ;  it 
must  be  the  place  commonly  assigned  to  the  accused  and  the 
witnesses  in  the  judicial  assembly. 

10.  two  men :  as  witnesses,  in  accordance  with  law  and  usage 
(Deut.  xvii.  6,  xix.  15  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  60). 

sons  of  Belial :  worthless  fellows  (see  marg.),  with  no 
character  to  lose,  and  easily  bribed  for  any  ill  purpose. 

Thou  didst  curse :  cf.  Exod.  xxii.  28.  The  word  for  ctirse 
is  a  euphemism  =  'bless'  (as  Job  i.  5,  &c.),  used  perhaps  in  the 
sense  of  'bid  farewell  to,'  hence  'renounce'  or  'disown' 
(Davidson,  Cantb.  Bible^  on  Job). 

S 


258  I    KINGS  21.  11-17.     Ef 

11  carry  him  out,  and  stone  him,  that  he  die.  And  the 
men  of  his  city,  even  the  elders  and  the  nobles  who 
dwelt  in  his  city,  did  as  Jezebel  had  sent  unto  them, 
according  as  it  was  written  in  the  letters  which  she  had 

1 2  sent  unto  them.    They  proclaimed  a  fast,  and  set  Naboth 

13  on  high  among  the  people.  And  the  two  men,  sons  of 
Belial,  came  in  and  sat  before  him  :  and  the  men  of 
Belial  bare  witness  against  him,  even  against  Naboth,  in 
the  presence  of  the  people,  saying,  Naboth  did  curse 
God  and  the  king.  Then  they  carried  him  forth  out  of 
the   city,  and   stoned   him   with   stones,  that  he  died. 

14  Then  they  sent  to  Jezebel,  saying,  Naboth  is  stoned, 

15  and  is  dead.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jezebel  heard 
that  Naboth  was  stoned,  and  was  dead,  that  Jezebel  said 
to  Ahab,  Arise,  take  possession  of  the  vineyard  of  Naboth 
the  Jezreelite,  which  he  refused  to  give  thee  for  money : 

16  for  Naboth  is  not  alive,  but  dead.  And  it  came  to  pass, 
when  Ahab  heard  that  Naboth  was  dead,  that  Ahab  rose 
up  to  go  down  to  the  vineyard  of  Naboth  the  Jezreelite, 
to  take  possession  of  it. 

17  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Elijah  the  Tishbite, 

15.  From  2  Kings  ix.  26  we  learn  that  Naboth's  sons  were  also 
slain,  as  was  perhaps  necessary  for  the  success  of  Jezebel's  scheme. 
The  freehold,  being  left  without  an  heir,  is  confiscated  to  the 
crown. 

16.  to  go  down.  Samaria  stands  over  1,000  feet  higher 
than  Jezreel.  An  unnatural  refinement  of  hypocrisy  is  attributed 
to  Ahab  by  the  LXX,  which  says  that  on  hearing  of  the  death 
of  Naboth  he  'rent  his  garments  and  put  on  sackcloth.'  Cf. 
verse  27. 

xxi.  17-29.  Elijah's  Encounter  ivith  Ahab.  The  suddenness  of 
the  prophet's  appearance,  in  the  very  flush  of  Ahab's  guilty 
satisfaction,  is  represented  with  great  power  in  the  opening 
verses.  Unfortunately,  the  original  narrative  is  broken  off  in 
the  middle  of  verse  20,  and  replaced  by  a  speech  whose  phrases 
betray  the  hand  of  the  compiler.  In  this  oracle  there  is  no 
reference   either   to  Ahab's  personal  fate  or  to  the  murder  of 


I    KINGS  21.  18-21.     Ef  D  259 

saying,  Arise,  go  down  to  meet  Ahab  king  of  Israel,  18 
which  dwelleth  in  Samaria  :  behold,  he  is  in  the  vineyard 
of  Naboth,  whither  he  is  gone  down  to  take  possession 
of  it.     And  thou  shalt   speak  unto  him,   saying,   Thus  19 
saith  the  Lord,  Hast  thou  killed,  and  also  taken  pos- 
session? and  thou  shalt  speak  unto  him,  saying,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  In  the  place  where  dogs  licked  the  blood 
of  Naboth  shall  dogs  lick  thy  blood,  even  thine.     And  20 
Ahab  said  to  Elijah,  Hast  thou  found  me,  O  mine  enemy  ? 
And  he  answered,  I  have  found  thee :  [D]  because  thou 
hast  sold  thyself  to  do  that  which  is  evil  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord.     Behold,  I  will  bring  evil  upon  thee,  and  will  21 

Naboth  (verse  23  being  an  interpolation);  but  simply  an  announce- 
ment of  the  retribution  that  was  to  overtake  his  descendants,  on 
account  of  his  religious  delinquencies.  The  last  three  verses, 
describing  Ahab's  repentance  and  the  postponement  of  the  judge- 
ment, may,  however,  be  part  of  the  old  narrative,  since  the  doom 
pronounced  on  Ahab  in  verse  19  was  actually  transferred  (in 
substance)  to  his  son  (2  Kings  ix.  24  ff.). 

18.  The  clause,  which  dwelleth  (strictly,  t's)  in  Samaria,  can 
only  mean  that  Ahab  was  to  be  found  at  that  moment  in  Samaria  ; 
it  was  not  necessary  to  tell  Elijah  where  the  king  usually  dwelt. 
But  Ahab  was  at  the  moment  in  Jezreel ;  hence  the  words  must 
be  a  gloss  added  by  some  one  who  supposed  that  Naboth,  though 
a  native  of  Jezreel,  had  his  vineyard  in  Samaria  (see  xxii.  38). 
Benzinger,  indeed,  thinks  that  this  may  have  been  the  view 
of  the  writer  of  the  chapter,  though  it  is  inconsistent  with 
2  Kings  ix.  21,  26. 

19.  Hast  thou  killed . . .  ?  The  real  character  of  Ahab's  conduct 
is  unmasked  by  this  pointed  sarcasm  :  it  was  as  certain  that  he 
was  the  murderer  as  it  was  evident  that  he  had  taken  possession. 

In  the  place.  There  was  no  literal  fulfilment  of  this  threat ; 
see  on  xxii.  38,  2  Kings  ix.  24  fF. 

20*.  Hast  then  found  me?  Cf.  xviii.  17:  from  being  the 
'troubler  of  Israel'  Elijah  has  become  the  personal  enemy  of 
Ahab.  Surely  something  more  than  is  recorded  must  have  passed 
between  them.. 

20 ''.  because  introduces  the  protasis  to  verse  21.  The  Deutero- 
nomic  addition  commences  here  :  cf.  the  language  with  xi.  6,  &c., 
and  2  Kings  xvii.  7. 

21,  22.  Cf.  xiv.  10,  16. 

S  2 


26o  I    KINGS  21.  22-29.     DZDD^Ef 

utterly  sweep  thee  away,  and  will  cut  off  from  Ahab 
every  man  child,  and  him  that  is  shut  up  and  him  that 
3  2  is  left  at  large  in  Israel:  and  I  will  make  thine  house 
like  the  house  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  and  like 
the  house  of  Baasha  the  son  of  Ahijah,  for  the  provo- 
cation wherewith  thou  hast  provoked  me  to  anger,  and 

23  hast  made  Israel  to  sin.  [Z]  And  of  Jezebel  also  spake 
the  Lord,  saying.  The  dogs   shall  eat   Jezebel  by  the 

24  rampart  of  Jezreel.  [D]  Him  that  dieth  of  Ahab  in  the 
city  the  dogs  shall  eat ;  and  him  that  dieth  in  the  field 

25  shall  the  fowls  of  the  air  eat.  [D'^]  (But  there  was  none 
like  unto  Ahab,  which  did  sell  himself  to  do  that  which 
was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  whom  Jezebel  his  wife 

26  stirred  up.  And  he  did  very  abominably  in  following 
idols,  according  to  all  that  the  x\morites  did,  whom  the 

27  Lord  cast  out  before  the  children  of  Israel.)  [Ej^]  And 
it  came  to  pass,  when  Ahab  heard  those  words,  that  he 
rent  his  clothes,  and  put  sackcloth  upon  his  flesh,  and 

a 8  fasted,  and  lay  in  sackcloth,  and  went  softly.     And  the 

word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  saying, 

29  Seest   thou   how  Ahab   humbleth   himself  before   me  ? 


23.  The  verse  breaks  the  flow  of  the  Deuteronomic  address. 
It  is  impossible  to  say  whether  it  is  a  fragment  of  Elijah's  original 
message  or  an  interpolation  based  on  2  Kings  ix.  36.  In  either  case 
it  is  better  to  read,  with  some  ancient  versions,  '  portion '  {helek\ 
instead  of  rampart  (hel). 

24.  See  xiv.  11, 

25.  26  have  been  added  by  a  still  later  hand  (the  second 
redactor).  Their  purpose  is  to  counteract  the  impression  apt  to 
be  made  by  verse  22,  by  pointing  out  that  in  reality  no  king  had 
been  so  wicked  as  Ahab,  and  none  had  had  so  bad  a  wife.  For 
But  render  '  Only,'  or  '  However.' 

27-29  record  a  modification  of  the  original  penalty  (verse  19), 
in  consequence  of  Ahab's  professions  of  penitence,  which  may 
have  been  quite  sincere.  The  rending  of  the  garments  and  the 
wearing  of  sackcloth  are  closely  associated  signs  of  mourning, 
which  have  become  conventional  in  the  O.  T.,  and  whose  primary 


I    KINGS  22.  1,2.     Ef  N  261 

because  he  humbleth  himself  before  me,  I  will  not  bring 
the  evil  in  his  days:  but  in  his  son's  days  will  I  bring 
the  evil  upon  his  house. 

[N]   And    they   continued    three   years   without   war  22 
between  Syria  and  Israel.     And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  a 
third  year,  that  Jehoshaphat  the  king  of  Judah  came 

significance  is  therefore  obscure.  Possibly  both  denote  a  reversion 
to  the  primitive  clothing  of  a  pre-historic  age,  the  rough  hair 
loin-cloth  being  substituted  for  ordinary  civihzed  apparel  (see 
on  XX.  31).  The  LXX  here  repeats  its  assertion  that  Ahab 
'  put  on  sackcloth  on  the  day  when  they  killed  Naboth  the 
Jezreelite'  (verse   16). 

xxii,  1-40.  The  Death  of  Ahab. 
See  the  introductory  note  on  ch.  xx.  The  present  section  is 
the  continuation  of  that  chapter.  Ben-hadad  had  violated  the 
treaty  of  Aphek  by  refusing  to  surrender  the  frontier  city  of 
Ramoth-gilead,  and  after  three  years'  truce  Ahab  resolves  to 
assert  his  rights  by  force.  The  chronicler,  who  as  a  rule  ignores 
the  history  of  the  northern  kingdom,  inserts  this  passage  as  an 
incident  in  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat  (2  Chron.  xviii). 

xxii.  I  -12.  The  Expedition  resolved  on :  Consultation  of  the 
Prophets.  In  the  third  year  after  the  battle  of  Aphek  Ahab  calls 
a  council  of  his  officers,  and  reminds  them  that  Ramoth-gilead  has 
never  been  evacuated  by  the  Syrians,  and  must  now  be  recovered 
by  force.  He  sends  for  his  vassal  Jehoshaphat  of  Judah,  who 
promises  to  support  him  with  his  whole  army.  At  Jehoshaphat's 
request,  however,  a  convocation  of  prophets  is  first  held,  and 
four  hundred  prophets,  led  by  a  certain  Zedekiah,  unanimously 
predict  the  success  of  the  enterprise.  Jehoshaphat  is  still  un- 
satisfied ;  and  Ahab  has  to  admit  that  there  was  one  man  whose 
presence  he  had  not  thought  desirable,  because  of  the  uniformly  un- 
favourable character  of  his  oracles.  Nevertheless,  at  Jehoshaphat's 
urgent  request,  Micaiah  the  son  of  Imlah  is  summoned  to  give  his 
advice. 

2.  The  mention  of  Jehoshaphat's  visit  at  this  point  gives  rise 
to  the  impression  that  it  was  his  presence  in  Samaria  which 
suggested  to  Ahab  the  idea  of  an  alliance  against  Syria.  That  is 
little  likely  to  have  been  the  case.  He  embarks  on  the  expedition 
with  evident  reluctance,  and  would  probably  have  kept  out  of  it 
if  he  had  been  free  to  refuse.  It  is  held  by  some  that  the  marriage 
of  Jehoshaphat's  son  to  Ahab's  daughter  (2  Kings  viii.  18)  implies 
that  Judah  was  at  this  time  a  vassal-state  of  Israel,  and  bound  to 


262  I    KINGS  22.  3-S.     N 

3  down  to  the  king  of  Israel.  And  the  king  of  Israel  said 
unto  his  servants,  Know  ye  that  Ramoth-gilead  is  ours, 
and  we  be  still,  and  take  it  not  out  of  the  hand  of  the 

4  king  of  Syria?  And  he  said  unto  Jehoshaphat,  Wilt 
thou  go  with  me  to  battle  to  Ramoth-gilead?  And 
Jehoshaphat  said  to  the  king  of  Israel,  I  am  as  thou 
art,  my  people  as  thy  people,  my  horses  as  thy  horses. 

5  And  Jehoshaphat  said  unto  the  king  of  IsraeJ,  Inquire, 

6  I  pray  thee,  at  the  word  of  the  Lord  to-day.  Then  the 
king  of  Israel  gathered  the  prophets  together,  about  four 
hundred  men,  and  said  unto  them.  Shall  I  go  against 
Ramoth-gilead  to  battle,  or  shall  I  forbear?  And  they 
said,  Go  up ;  for  the  Lord  shall  deliver  it  into  the  hand 

7  of  the  king.  But  Jehoshaphat  said_,  Is  there  not  here 
besides  a  prophet  of  the  Lord,  that  we  might  inquire 

8  of  him  ?  And  the  king  of  Israel  said  unto  Jehoshaphat, 
There  is  yet  one  man  by  whom  we  may  inquire  of  the 


render  military  service  when  called  upon.  Hence  Klostermann  and 
Benzinger  transpose  2  ^^  to  the  end  of  verse  4  :  Ahab  first  decides 
on  the  expedition,  and  then  calls  on  Jehoshaphat  to  join  him,  on 
which  the  latter  comes  to  Samaria. 

3.  Bamotli-gilead.  See  on  iv.  13.  On  the  authority  of  Eusebius, 
who  says  it  was  fifteen  Roman  miles  west  of  Philadelphia,  it  has 
usually  been  identified  with  es-Sal(  (eighteen  miles  north  of  the 
Dead  Sea),  or  the  ruins  oi  el-Jal  fid,  six  miles  further  north.  But 
both  these  sites,  as  well  as  Jerdsh,  twenty-two  miles  north-east  of 
es-Salt,  are  much  too  far  south  for  iv.  13  ;  and  the  locality  is 
probably  to  be  sought  on  the  Yarmuk,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Edre'i  (see  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.  p.  587,  and  Cooke's  note  in 
Driver's  Deittcroiiomy,  p.  xviii).  The  maps  show  in  that  region 
a  place  Rcmthch,  which  might  suit ;  but  Smith  seems  inclined  to 
identify  it  with  Ramoth-mizpeh  (Joshua  xiii.  26\ 

4.  See  on  verse  2.  The  courtesy  of  the  communications  need 
not  be  more  than  diplomatic. 

5.  For  to-day  render  (as  in  i.  51)  '  first  of  all.' 

6.  Ahab  can  still  command  the  services  of  some  four  hundred 
prophets  of  Yahweh,  a  fact  which  reveals  the  difference  of  stand- 
point between  this  document  and  the  Life  of  Elijah. 


I   KINGS  22.  9-13.     N  263 

Lord,  Micaiah  the  son  of  Imlah :  but  I  hate  him ;  for 
he  doth  not   prophesy  good  concerning  me,  but  evil. 
And  Jehoshaphat  said,  Let  not  the  king  say  so.     Then   9 
the  king  of  Israel   called   an  officer,  and   said,   Fetch 
quickly  Micaiah  the  son  of  Imlah.     Now  the  king  of  10 
Israel  and  Jehoshaphat  the  king  of  Judah  sat  each  on 
his  throne,  arrayed  in  their  robes,  in  an  open  place  at 
the  entrance  of  the  gate  of  Samaria  ;  and  all  the  prophets 
prophesied   before   them.      And   Zedekiah   the   son   of  1 1 
Chenaanah   made  him  horns  of  iron,  and  said,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  With  these  shalt  thou  push  the  Syrians, 
until  they  be  consumed.    And  all  the  prophets  prophesied  1 3 
so,  saying.  Go  up  to  Ramoth-gilead,  and  prosper:   for 
the  Lord  shall  deliver  it  into  the  hand  of  the  king. 
And  the  messenger  that  went  to  call  Micaiah  spake  unto  13 

8.  The  solitary  representative  of  the  higher  prophecy— the 
prophecy  which  is  true  to  itself,  and  utters  its  presage  of  disaster 
regardless  of  the  superficial  enthusiasms  which  others  mistake  for 
inspiration — is  SUicaiali  the  son  of  Imlah.  He  is  a  man  of 
kindred  spirit  with  Elijah,  and  like  him  a  true  precursor  of  the 
ethical  prophecy  of  the  following  centuries  (cf.  Jer.  xxviii,  8). 
The  passage  is  important,  as  the  first  instance  of  a  cleavage  in  the 
ranks  of  the  prophetic  body,  which  runs  through  the  whole 
subsequent  history  of  the  movement. 

10.  arrayed  in  their  robes  (Jit.  '  clad  in  clothes ') :  LXX, 
'in  full  armour.'  The  phrase  'in  a  threshing-floor'  (marg.)  is 
difficult  to  understand,  and  might  be  a  corrupt  repetition  of  the 
word  for  'clothes.*  Another  suggestion  is  that  it  contained 
a  specification  of  the  kind  of  clothes  meant ;  but  it  cannot  be  said, 
in  view  of  verse  30,  that  such  a  specification  is  indispensable. 

11.  Cf.  Jer.  xxviii,  where  a  prophet  of  the  type  of  Zedekiah 
employs  a  similar  symbolic  action  in  support  of  a  false  prediction. 

xxii.  13-28.  The  Prophet  of  Evil.  In  the  meantime  Micaiah 
has  been  prompted  by  the  officer  sent  to  fetch  him,  and  urged  to 
fall  into  line  with  the  other  prophets,  who  had  spoken  as  the  king 
wished.  Strangely  enough,  his  first  answer  to  Ahab's  question 
is  identical  with  theirs.  Something  in  his  tone,  however,  convinces 
Ahab  that  he  is  not  speaking  his  inmost  thought,  and  he  adjures 
him  to  utter  the  whole  truth.     Micaiah  then  unfolds  his  reading 


264  I    KINGS  22.  14-17.     N 

him,  saying,  BehoW  now,  the  words  of  the  prophets 
declare  good  unto  the  king  with  one  mouth:  let  thy 
word,  I  pray  thee,  be  hke  the  word  of  one  of  them,  and 

14  speak  thou  good.  And  Micaiah  said.  As  the  Lord 
Hveth,  what  the  Lord  saith  unto  me,  that  will  I  speak. 

15  And  when  he  was  come  to  the  king,  the  king  said  unto 
him,  Micaiah,  shall  we  go  to  Ramoth-gilead  to  battle,  or 
shall  we  forbear?  And  he  answered  him,  Go  up,  and 
prosper ;  and  the  Lord  shall  deliver  it  into  the  hand  of 

16  the  king.  And  the  king  said  unto  him.  How  many 
times   shall   I   adjure   thee   that   thou   speak   unto   me 

17  nothing  but  the  truth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord?  And 
he  said,  I  saw  all  Israel  scattered  upon  the  mountains, 
as  sheep  that  have  no  shepherd  :  and  the  Lord  said, 
These  have  no  master;   let  them  return  every  man  to 


of  the  situation  by  relating  two  visions  that  had  come  to  him. 
The  first — a  vision  of  Israel  as  a  shepherdless  flock,  scattered  on 
the  mountains — is  a  veiled  prediction  of  Ahab's  death.  The  second 
penetrates  still  more  deeply  into  the  Divine  purpose,  and  is 
remarkable  for  the  judgement  it  pronounces  on  the  origin  of  false 
prophecy.  He  has  stood  in  the  council  of  heaven,  and  seen  how 
the  Lord  commissioned  the  spirit  to  utter  through  the  court- 
prophets  false  oracles  that  should  lure  Ahab  to  his  doom.  Such  an 
estimate  of  the  perplexing  phenomenon  of  spurious  prophecy 
bears  the  stamp  of  antiquit}'.  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  denounced 
the  false  prophets  of  their  time  as  men  who  spoke  '  from  their 
own  heart,'  without  inspiration  ;  Micaiah,  on  the  contrary,  believes 
his  opponents  to  be  inspired,  but  inspired  to  prophesy  lies.  The 
import  of  his  revelation,  therefore,  is  that  the  expedition  is  decreed 
of  Yahweh  and  must  proceed,  but  that  it  is  decreed  in  anger  and 
destined  to  end  disastrously  for  Israel.  For  his  uncompromising 
attitude  he  is  smitten  on  the  cheek  by  Zedekiah,  and  by  Ahab's 
orders  sent  to  prison  till  his  return. 

13.  the   words   of  the   prophets.      Read,    with    LXX,   'the 
prophets  have  spoken ' — with  one  mouth  good,  &c. 

14.  Cf.  Num.  xxii.  38. 

16.  adjure  thee:  i.  e.  '  make  thee  swear.' 

17.  as    sheep    that    have    no    shepherd:    Num.    xxvii.    17; 
Matt.  ix.  36. 


I    KINGS  22.  18-21.     N  265 

his  house  in   peace.     And  the  king  of  Israel  said  to  18 
Jehoshaphat,   Did   I  not   tell  thee  that   he  would  not 
prophesy  good  concerning  me,  but  evil.?   And  he  said,  19 
Therefore  hear  thou  the  word  of  the  Lord  :   I  saw  the 
Lord  sitting  on  his  throne,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven 
standing  by  him  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his  left.     And  20 
the  Lord  said,  Who  shall  entice  Ahab,  that  he  may  go 
up  and  fall  at  Ramoth-gilead  ?     And  one  said  on  this 
manner :  and  another  said  on  that  manner.     And  there  2 1 
came  forth  a  spirit,  and  stood  before  the  Lord,  and  said, 

18.  Ahab  seeks  to  remove  the  depressing  effect  of  the  oracle 
on  the  mind  of  Jehoshaphat  by  insinuating  that  it  proceeds  from 
personal  animosity  ;  and  Micaiah  answers  in  verse 

19.  '  Not  so  ! '  (the  LXX  text  is  here  preferable  to  the  Heb. 
'Therefore'),  disclosing  the  source  of  his  certainty  by  narrating 
a  second  vision. 

the  host  of  heaven  :  perhaps  the  earliest  instance  of  the  use 
of  this  expression.  Most  frequently  it  denotes  the  stars,  but  here 
(as  in  Neh.  ix.  6^,  Dan.  iv.  35,  and  perhaps  Isa.  xxiv.  21)  it  is 
evident  that  angelic  ministers  of  Yahv^^eh  are  meant  :  these  are 
called  '  host  of  heaven  '  because,  like  Yahweh  Himself,  they  have 
their  dwelling-place  there.  (See  further,  Driver  in  DB,  ii. 
p.  429  f) 

21.  a  spirit:  Heb.  'the  spirit.'  Hebrew  idiom  does  not  abso- 
lutel}'^  preclude  the  indefinite  rendering,  but  the  article  has  probably 
in  this  case  its  natural  force  ;  and  the  question  arises,  what  spirit 
is  meant?  The  spirit  is  evidently  the  personified  principle  of 
prophecy,  the  superhuman  power  which  was  recognized  as  the 
source  of  the  prophetic  ecstasy.  In  other  passages  these  manifesta- 
tions are  ascribed  directly  to  the  spirit  of  Yahweh  (i  Sam.  x.  10,  &c.), 
i.  e.  to  the  direct  action  of  God  on  the  prophets.  Here  the  spirit 
is  an  independent  personal  agent,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  how  this 
idea  is  related  to  the  simpler  conception  of  the  immediate  Divine 
inspiration  of  the  prophets,  or  what  judgement  is  expressed  on 
the  worth  of  the  more  excited  forms  of  inspiration  exhibited  by 
Zedekiah  and  his  fellows.  It  is  certainly  remarkable  that  Micaiah 
claims  to  have  a  truer  knowledge  of  God's  will  than  that  imparted 
by  the  spirit ;  and  still  more  remarkable  that  the  spirit  himself 
becomes,  for  a  special  purpose,  a  *  lying  spirit.'  The  falsification  • 
of  prophecy  appears  to  be  traced,  not  to  the  imperfection  of  its 
human  medium,  but  to  the  supernatural  source  from  which  it 
emanates.     To  our  minds,  such  a  theory  of  prophecy  involves 


266  I    KINGS  22.  22-28.     N 

22  I  will  entice  him.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Where- 
with ?  And  he  said,  I  will  go  forth,  and  will  be  a  lying 
spirit  in  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets.  And  he  said. 
Thou  shalt  entice  him,  and  shalt  prevail  also :  go  forth, 

23  and  do  so.  Now  therefore,  behold,  the  Lord  hath  put 
a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth  of  all  these  thy  prophets  ;  and 

24  the  Lord  hath  spoken  evil  concerning  thee.  Then 
Zedekiah  the  son  of  Chenaanah  came  near,  and  smote 
Micaiah  on  the  cheek,  and  said,  Which  way  went  the 

25  spirit  of  the  Lord  from  me  to  speak  unto  thee?  And 
Micaiah  said,  Behold,  thou  shalt  see  on  that  day,  when 
thou  shalt  go  into  an  inner  chamber  to  hide  thyself. 

26  And  the  king  of  Israel  said.  Take  Micaiah,  and  carry 
him  back  unto  Amon  the  governor  of  the  city,  and  to 

27  Joash  the  king's  son;  and  say.  Thus  saith  the  king.  Put 
this  fellow  in  the  prison,  and  feed  him  with  bread  of 
affliction  and  with  water  of  affliction,  until  I  come  in 

:8  peace.  And  Micaiah  said.  If  thou  return  at  all  in  peace, 
the  Lord  hath  not  spoken  by  me.  And  he  said,  Hear, 
ye  peoples,  all  of  you. 


moral  difficulties  greater  than  those  it  solves  ;  but  it  is  enough  that 
it  enabled  a  true  prophet  to  hold  fast  his  faith,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  men  possessed  by  a  spirit  not  their  own  were  prophesying 
what  he  knew  to  be  a  lie. 

24.  To  Zedekiah,  at  all  events,  the  author  of  all  prophecy  is 
the  spirit  of  tlie  ^OSD.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  sincerity 
of  this  man's  belief  in  his  own  inspiration. 

25.  The  ultimate  criterion  on  which  Micaiah  relies  is  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  prediction  (cf.  verse  28  ;  Deut.  xviii.  21  f. ;  Jer.  xxviii. 
9).  In  reality  Micaiah  utters  a  fresh  prediction,  of  the  nature  of 
a  sign,  as  did  Jeremiah  in  similar  circumstances  (xxviii.  16  f,). 

into  an  inner  chamber.     See  on  xx.  30. 

26.  Joash,  the  son  of  Ahab,  is  not  elsewhere  mentioned. 

28.  And  he  said,  Hear  . . .  The  clause,  which  is  wanting  in  the 
LXX,  is  a  citation  of  the  opening  words  of  the  canonical  Book  of 
Micah  (i.  2).  It  is  the  marginal  gloss  of  an  uncritical  reader  who 
erroneously  identified  the  two  prophets. 


I    KINGS  22.  29-32.     N  267 

So  the  king  of  Israel  and  Jehoshaphat  the  king  of  29 
Judah  went   up   to  Ramoth-gilead.     And   the   king  of  30 
Israel  said  unto  Jehoshaphat,  I  will  disguise  myself,  and 
go  into  the  battle ;  but  put  thou  on  thy  robes.     And  the 
king  of  Israel  disguised  himself,  and  went  into  the  battle. 
Now  the  king  of  Syria  had  commanded  the  thirty  and  31 
two  captains  of  his  chariots,  saying,  Fight  neither  with 
small  nor  great,  save  only  with  the  king  of  Israel.     And  3^ 
it  came  to  pass,  when  the  captains  of  the  chariots  saw 
Jehoshaphat,  that   they  said,   Surely  it   is   the  king  of 


xxii.  29-38.  The  Battle.  Undeterred  by  the  warning  just 
uttered,  the  two  kings  proceed  to  battle ;  though  Ahab  takes  the 
precaution  of  disguising  himself  as  a  common  soldier.  The  Syrian 
captains,  having  received  orders  to  direct  all  their  efforts  against 
the  king  of  Israel,  at  first  surrounded  Jehoshaphat,  but  ceased  to 
press  him  on  discovering  that  he  was  not  the  man  they  sought. 
The  arrow  of  destiny  was  shot  at  random  by  an  unknown  Syrian 
bowman,  and  it  penetrated  the  joints  of  Ahab's  armour,  inflicting 
a  mortal  wound.  The  king,  however,  was  propped  up  in  his 
chariot,  and  kept  his  place  in  the  fighting  line  till  the  evening, 
when  he  died.  It  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  battle  had  gone  in 
favour  of  Israel,  though  the  fruits  of  victory  were  lost  when  the 
cry  went  through  the  host  that  the  king  was  dead,  causing  the 
troops  to  disperse  to  their  homes.  The  bod}'  of  Ahab  was  brought 
to  Samaria  and  there  buried  ;  and  a  late  writer  found  a  meagre 
fulfilment  of  Elijah's  prophecy  (xxi.  19)  in  the  circumstance 
that  the  blood  washed  from  his  chariot  was  lapped  by  dogs  at 
the  pool  of  Samaria. 

30.  Ahab's  disguising  of  himself  covers  neither  a  cowardly 
design  to  save  his  own  life  by  the  sacrifice  of  Jehoshaphat's  nor 
a  chivalrous  resolve  to  share  the  risks  of  the  common  soldier.  It 
merely  reveals  his  secret  anxiety  lest  Micaiah's  vision  should 
come  true,  and  is  perhaps  dictated  by  the  superstitious  notion 
that  by  changing  his  identity  he  can  escape  the  notice  of  the 
unseen  powers  of  evil.  That  he  was  aware  of  Ben-hadad's  orders 
concerning  him  (verse  31)  we  can  hardly  suppose. 

31.  On  the  number  32,  see  on  xx.  24.  It  is  not  given  in 
2  Chron.  xviii.  30,  and  may  have  been  inserted  in  the  text  either 
from  XX.  I  or  xx.  24.  The  command  itself  is  a  striking  tribute  to 
Ahab's  prowess. 

32.  Seeing    only   one    Richmond    in    the    field   the   captains 


268  I    KINGS  22.33-37.     N 

Israel ;  and  they  turned  aside  to  fight  against  him :  and 

33  Jehoshaphat  cried  out.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the 
captains  of  the  chariots  saw  that  it  was  not  the  king  of 

34  Israel,  that  they  turned  back  from  pursuing  him.  And 
a  certain  man  drew  his  bow  at  a  venture,  and  smote  the 
king  of  Israel  between  the  joints  of  the  harness :  where- 
fore he  said  unto  the  driver  of  his  chariot,  Turn  thine 
hand,  and  carry  me  out  of  the  host;    for  I  am   sore 

35  wounded.  And  the  battle  increased  that  day  :  and  the 
king  was  stayed  up  in  his  chariot  against  the  Syrians,  and 
died  at  even :  and  the  blood  ran  out  of  the  wound  into 

36  the  bottom  of  the  chariot.  And  there  went  a  cry 
throughout  the  host  about  the  going  down  of  the  sun, 
saying,  Every  man  to  his  city,  and  every  man  to  his 

37  country.     So  the  king  died,  and  was  brought  to  Samaria ; 


naturally  took  him  for  the  king  of  Israel.  For  turned  aside 
agfainst  him  it  is  better  to  read,  with  LXX  and  2  Chron.  xviii.  31, 
'surrounded  him.'  The  cry  of  Jehoshaphat  was  probably  a  shout 
to  his  men.  The  chronicler  understood  it  to  be  a  prayer  to  God, 
and  adds  that  'the  Lord  helped  him,'  &c.     Similarly  LXX  (L). 

34.  at  a  venture :  lit.  '  in  his  innocence '  (cf.  marg.),  never 
dreaming  that  his  arrow  was  to  decide  the  battle.  The  word 
rendered  in  marg.  '  lower  armour '  probably  denotes  the  tassets 
or  jointed  appendages  of  the  cuirass,  covering  the  abdomen.  The 
shaft  thus  entered  '  between  the  tassets  and  the  breastplate,' 
wounding  the  lower  part  of  the  body. 

out  of  the  host :  better,  as  LXX  and  Chronicles,  *  out  of  the 
battle.' 

35.  The  first  impulse  of  the  wounded  king  had  been  to  with- 
draw from  the  field  ;  but  noting  the  increasing  fierceness  of  the 
conflict  he  seems  to  have  determined  to  remain  and  see  it 
through. 

and  died  at  even.  Read,  as  2  Chron.  xviii.  34,  'until  the 
even.'  LXX  has  '  from  morn  till  even,'  and  adds  the  words 
'  and  he  died  at  even '  at  the  end  of  the  verse,  which  is  probably 
right. 

36.  *  And  the  shrill  cry  passed  through  the  camp,'  &c. 

37.  The  verse  should  read  (continuing  verse  36),  'for  the  king 
is  dead.     And  they  came  to  Samaria,  and  buried  the  king,'  &c. 


I    KINGS  22.  38-41.     NZD  269 

and  they  buried  the  king  in  Samaria.     [Z]  And  they  38 
washed  the  chariot  by  the  pool  of  Samaria;    and  the 
dogs  hcked   up  his   blood ;    (now  the   harlots   washed 
themselves  there ;)  according  unto  the  word  of  the  Lord 
which  he  spake.     [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Ahab,  39 
and  all  that  he  did,  and  the  ivory  house  which  he  built, 
and  all   the  cities   that   he  built,  are  they  not  written 
in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel? 
So  Ahab  slept  with  his  fathers ;  and  Ahaziah  his  son  40 
reigned  in  his  stead. 

And  Jehoshaphat  the  son  of  Asa  began  to  reign  over  41 

38  seems  to  have  been  added  by  a  later  hand,  in  order  to  bring 
the  end  of  Ahab  into  some  sort  of  correspondence  with  the  doom 
pronounced  by  EHjah,  after  the  murder  of  Naboth  (xxi.  19).  It 
misses  the  essential  point  that  Ahab  was  to  die  in  the  same  place 
as  Naboth  (i.  e.  outside  Jezreel),  and  overlooks  the  fact  that  this 
sentence  was  afterwards  suspended  and  transferred  from  Ahab  to 
his  son  (xxi.  29).  An  interpretation  so  strained  and  so  disparaging 
to  Ahab  is  little  likely  to  have  suggested  itself  to  the  author  of 
ch.  XX,  xxii,  who  besides  had  no  occasion  to  refer  to  a  prophecy 
recorded  only  in  a  separate  document. 

xxii.  39,  40.  Concluding  Forniida.  The  long  account  of  the 
reign  is  wound  up  by  the  compiler  with  the  usual  reference  to 
the  chronicles  of  Israel.  Incidentally  we  learn  that  (i)  Ahab  had 
built  an  ivory  house  (i.e.  a  palace  lavishly  ornamented  with 
ivory :  cf.  Amos  iii.  15  ;  Ps.  xlv.  8  ;  Canticles  vii.  4),  and  (2)  had 
fortified  a  number  of  cities, 

xxii.  41-50.  Jehoshaphat  of  Jndah. 
The  most  important  political  events  of  the  reign  are  recorded  in 
their  connexion  in  the  history  of  the  northern  kingdom  (xxii.  1-38  ; 
2  Kings  iii),  and  the  section  devoted  specially  to  Jehoshaphat 
consists  mainly  of  the  editorial  framework.  In  the  concluding 
formula,  however,  two  annalistic  notices  have  been  preserved 
(verses  46-49  ==  Hebrew,  47-50).  In  the  LXX  the  whole  section 
stood  originally  before  xvi.  29  (see  the  note  there).  This  is  the  case 
both  in  the  Vatican  MS.  (B)  and  in  the  Lucianic  recension ; 
although  the  former  repeats  it  here,  with  some  variations  and  the 
omission  of  verses  46-49,  and  adopting  of  course  the  Hebrew 
chronology. 

xxii.  41-44.     Introduction. 


270  I    KINGS  22.42-18.     DKJ 

4  a  Judah  in  the  fourth  year  of  Ahab  king  of  Israel.  Jeho- 
shaphat  was  thirty  and  five  years  old  when  he  began  to 
reign  ;  and  he  reigned  twenty  and  five  years  in  Jerusalem. 
And  his  mother's  name  was  Azubah  the  daughter  of  Shilhi. 

43  And  he  walked  in  all  the  way  of  Asa  his  father;  he 
turned  not  aside  from  it,  doing  that  which  was  right  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Lord  :  howbeit  the  high  places  were  not 
taken  away ;  the  people  still  sacrificed  and  burnt  incense 

44  in  the  high  places.    And  Jehoshaphat  made  peace  with  the 

45  king  of  Israel.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jehoshaphat, 
and  his  might  that  he  shewed,  and  how  he  warred,  are 
they  not  written   in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the 

46  kings  of  Judah  ?  [K  J]  iVnd  the  remnant  of  the  sodomites, 
which  remained  in  the  days  of  his  father  Asa,  he  put 

47  away  out  of  the  land.     And  there  was  no  king  in  Edom  : 

48  a  deputy  was  king.    Jehoshaphat  made  ships  of  Tarshish 

41.  the  foTirth  year  of  Ahab.     See  on  xvi.  29. 

43.  the  high  places.     See  on  iii.  2,  3,  xv.  14. 

xxii.  46-49.  An  Expedition  to  Ophir  planned  and  frustrated. 
(Cf.  2  Chron.  xx.  35-37.)  The  traffic  with  Ophir  had  probably 
been  discontinued  since  the  days  of  Solomon.  The  recovery, 
under  unknown  circumstances,  of  the  suzerainty  over  Edom 
presented  an  opportunity  to  reopen  it ;  and  with  this  object  in 
view  Jehoshaphat  caused  a  large  ship  to  be  built  at  Ezion-geber. 
The  vessel,  however,  was  wrecked  in  that  port  ;  and  this  so  dis- 
couraged Jehoshaphat  that  he  refused  to  join  Ahaziah  of  Israel  in 
a  second  venture.  The  chronicler's  version  of  the  incident  is 
slightly  different.  According  to  him,  Ahaziah  had  been  a  partner 
in  the  enterprise  from  the  first  (which  is  in  itself  probable,  since 
Jehoshaphat  was  no  doubt  still  a  vassal  of  Israel)  ;  and  the 
shipwreck  put  an  end  to  the  hopes  of  both.  Ahaziah  began  to 
reign  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  Jehoshaphat,  so  that  the  incident 
belongs  to  the  later  period  of  the  latter's  reign. 

46.  Cf.  XV.  12. 

47.  no  kinsf  in  Edom.  Some  years  later  (2  Kings  iii)  we  find 
that  there  was  again  a  king  in  Edom,  who  however  was  obviously 
a  vassal  of  Jehoshaphat. 

a  deputy  was  king*.   The  two  Hebrew  words  which  compose 
this  clause  may  be  taken  with  the  following  verse,  and  slightly 


I    KINGS  22.  49-53.     KJD  271 

to  go  to  Ophir  for  gold  :  but  they  went  not ;  for  the  ships 
were  broken  at  Ezion-geber.  Then  said  Ahaziah  the  son  49 
of  Ahab  unto  Jehoshaphat,  Let  my  servants  go  with  thy 
servants  in  the  ships.  But  Jehoshaphat  would  not. 
[D]  And  Jehoshaphat  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  50 
buried  with  his  fathers  in  the  city  of  David  his  father : 
and  Jehoram  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

Ahaziah  the  son  of  Ahab  began  to  reign  over  Israel  51 
in  Samaria  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  Jehoshaphat  king 
of  Judah,  and  he  reigned  two  years  over  Israel.     And  52 
he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and 
walked  in  the  way  of  his  father,  and  in  the  way  of  his 
mother,  and  in  the  way  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 
wherein  he  made  Israel  to  sin.     And  he  served  Baal,  53 
and  worshipped  him,  and  provoked  to  anger  the  Lord, 
the  God  of  Israel,  according  to  all  that  his  father  had  done. 

changed  so  as  to  read :  *  And  the  deputy  of  king  Jehoshaphat 
made.'  (So  Stade  and  others,  following  out  a  hint  suggested  by 
the  LXX.)  The  construction  thus  obtained  is  more  natural  than 
the  ordinary  renderings. 

48.  ships  of  TarsMsli.  See  on  x.  22.  The  LXX  has  the 
sing,  'ship'  throughout,  and  even  the  Hebrew  contains  an  indi- 
cation that  this  was  the  original  reading.  On  OpMr  and  Eziou- 
sreber,  see  on  ix.  26,  28. 

I  Kings  xxii.  51 — 2  Kings  i.  i8.     Ahaziah  of  Israel. 

xxii.  51-53  (=  Hebrew,  52-54).     Introduction. 

51.  iB.  the  seventeenth  year.  The  statement  reveals  an 
irregularity  which  has  crept  somehow  into  the  Hebrew  chrono- 
logical system.  Reckoning  from  verse  41,  the  seventeenth  year 
of  Jehoshaphat  would  bring  us  only  to  the  twentieth  year  of  Ahab, 
whose  reign  lasted  twenty-two  years,  LXX  (L)  avoids  the 
inaccuracy  by  adhering  to  what  seems  to  have  been  the  original 
scheme  of  the  LXX  (see  on  xvi.  29  and  xxii.  41),  reading,  'in  the 
twenty-fourth  year^,'  It  is  curious  that  the  same  mode  of  reckon- 
ing has  invaded  the  Hebrew  text  in  2  Kings  i.  17. 

*  First  year  of  Ahab  =  second  of  Jehoshaphat  (xvi.  29)  ;  therefore 
twenty-second  of  Ahab  =  twenty-third  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  first  of 
Ahaziah  =  twenty-fourth  of  Jehoshaphat.     See  Introduction,  p.  40. 


THE 

SECOND  BOOK  OF  THE  KINGS 

1  [KI]  And  Moab  rebelled  against  Israel  after  the  death 

2  of  Ahab.      [Ej^]  And  Ahaziah   fell  down  through   the 

i.  I.  The  Revolt  of  Moab.  The  verse  is  a  short  annalistic 
notice  of  the  revolt,  a  fuller  account  of  which  is  reserved  for  the 
reign  of  Jehoram  (ch.  iii).  It  is  difficult  to  explain  its  insertion 
at  this  point.  Benzinger  surmises  that  it  may  have  been  the 
introduction  to  a  narrative  of  the  struggle  which  once  stood  here, 
but  was  afterwards  removed  because  of  its  inconsistency  with 
ch.  iii.  But  that  is  scarcely  credible,  unless  we  assume  that  ch.  iii 
was  added  after  the  compilation  of  the  book  ;  and  if  we  do  make 
that  assumption  it  is  just  as  likely  that  the  verse  contains  all  that 
the  compiler  intended  to  record  about  the  incident.  The  dis- 
cussion of  the  historical  situation  may  be  deferred  till  we  come  to 
ch.  iii.  (On  the  division  of  the  original  Book  of  Kings  into  two  at 
this  point,  see  Introduction,  p.  3.) 

i.  2-17*.  Elijah  predicts  the  Death  of  Ahazialu  Ahaziah  had 
fallen  through  a  lattice  in  the  upper  chamber  of  his  palace,  and 
sends  to  a  heathen  oracle  in  the  Philistine  city  of  Ekron  to 
inquire  whether  he  should  recover  from  his  injuries.  The  event 
furnished  the  occasion  of  Elijah's  last  public  appearance  as 
a  prophet  and  champion  of  the  national  religion.  After  giving 
a  terrible  demonstration  of  his  preternatural  power,  he  is  brought 
to  the  bedside  of  the  king  and  announces  his  impending  death. 

The  source  from  which  the  narrative  is  taken  belongs  to  the 
cycle  of  prophetic  biographies  of  which  we  have  so  many  examples 
in  this  part  of  the  history.  By  some  recent  critics,  verses  2-8  are 
regarded  as  the  original  kernel  of  the  passage,  and  assigned  to  the 
same  author  as  i  Kings  xvii-xix,  xxi ;  the  remainder  (9-16)  being 
treated  as  a  legendary  supplement  of  much  later  date.  One  point 
in  favour  of  the  analysis  is  a  peculiarity  in  the  spelling  of  the  name 
Elijah,  in  which  verses  2-8  stand  almost  alone  in  the  whole  O,  T.^. 

*  The  exact  facts  are  these  :  the  usual  form  ^in'^-s?  is  never  used  in 
verses  2-S,  but  four  times  in  verses  9-1G.  The  abbreviated  form  rrbw 
occurs  three  times  in  verses  2-8,  and  once  in  verses  9-16.  The  only 
other  place  in  the  O.  T.  where  the  shorter  form  is  used  is  Mai.  iv.  5 
[«=  Hebrew,  iii.  23]. 


II    KINGS   1.  3.     Ej3  273 

lattice  in  his  upper  chamber  that  was  in  Samaria,  and 
was  sick :  and  he  sent  messengers,  and  said  unto  them, 
Go,  inquire  of  Baal-zebub  the  god  of  Ekron  whether  I 
shall  recover  of  this  sickness.    But  the  angel  of  the  Lord  3 

But  it  is  evident  that  if  this  fact  makes  against  the  unity  of  the 
present  narrative,  it  militates  equally  against  the  view  that  verses 
2-8  are  from  the  same  hand  as  i  Kings  xvii-xix  or  xxi.  A  certain 
disparity  of  conception  between  the  two  parts  may  be  felt  ;  and 
it  must  be  admitted  that  the  first  half  presents  a  conception  of 
Elijah  in  no  way  incongruous  with  that  of  i  Kings  xvii-xix.  At 
the  same  time  the  arguments  against  the  combination  of  xxi  with 
xvii-xix  apply  with  equal  force  to  this  passage  ;  and  apart  from 
the  question  of  the  liomogeneity  of  the  three  narratives,  the 
hypothesis  of  a  late  interpolation  has  not  much  utility. 

2.  The  lattice  {lit.  'network' — the  same  word  as  i  Kings  vii. 
17  ff.)  protected  the  aperture  which  served  as  a  window  in  the 
upper  chamber.  The  latter,  in  ordinary  one-storied  houses, 
consisted  of  a  single  room  erected  on  the  flat  roof  (see  on  iv.  10), 
and  often  with  one  or  two  of  its  walls  continuous  with  those 
of  the  main  building.  In  a  royal  palace  the  structure  would  not 
be  so  simple. 

Baal-zebnb  means  etymologically  and  according  to  tradition, 
'Lord  (or  Baal)  of  flies,'  i.  e.  probably  a  god  who  was  supposed 
to  send  or  remove  the  plague  of  flies.  It  would  be  in  accordance 
with  Semitic  analogies  if  Zabub  could  be  taken  as  a  local  designa- 
tion ;  but  if  it  were  so,  the  god  could  hardly  have  been  described 
as  the  g-od  of  Ekron.  Cheyne  thinks  the  name  a  corruption  of 
Baal-zebul  (*Lord  of  the  high  house  '):  cf.  Beelzebul,  Matt.  x.  25 
(R.  V.  marg.).  There  is  certainly  a  connexion  between  these  two 
names  ;  though  how  the  name  of  this  obscure  local  deity  came  to 
be  transferred  to  the  '  prince  of  the  devils  '  we  do  not  know. 

Ekron,  the  nearest  to  Israel  of  the  five  chief  Philistine  cities, 
is  identified  with  'Akir,  south-west  from  er-Ramlehj  and  about 
nine  miles  from  the  coast. 

3.  The  ang-el  of  the  ZiOBD  is  here  and  in  verse  15  the  medium 
of  prophetic  revelation,  a  function  not  assigned  to  him  in  i  Kings 
xvii-xix  or  xxi  (with  the  doubtful  and  in  any  case  trivial  exception 
of  xix.  7).  The  formula  used  in  these  narratives  is  *  the  word  of 
Yahweh  came  '  ;  or  (as  in  xix.  15  flf.)  God  speaks  to  Elijah  face  to 
face.  In  the  patriarchal  and  other  ancient  records  the  angel  of 
Yahweh  is  identified  with  Yahweh  Himself,  being  in  fact  a  per- 
sonification of  the  theophany  :  or,  to  put  it  otherwise,  he  is 
Yahweh  Himself  in  visible  self-manifestation.  But  the  present 
passage  does  not  stand  quite  on  the  same  level :  the  angel  here  is 


274  II    KINGS   1.  4-9.     Ej' 

said  to  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  Arise,  go  up  to  meet  the 
messengers  of  the  king  of  Samaria,  and  say  unto  them, 
Is  it  because  there  is  no  God  in  Israel,  that  ye  go  to 

4  inquire  of  Baal-zebub  the  god  of  Ekron  ?  Now  therefore 
thus  saith  the  Lord,  Thou  shalt  not  come  down  from 
the  bed  whither  thou  art  gone  up,  but  shalt  surely  die. 

5  And  Elijah  departed.  And  the  messengers  returned 
unto  him,  and  he  said  unto  them,  AVhy  is  it  that  ye  are 

6  returned?  And  they  said  unto  him,  There  came  up  a 
man  to  meet  us,  and  said  unto  us,  Go,  turn  again  unto 
the  king  that  sent  you,  and  say  unto  him.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  Is  it  because  there  is  no  God  in  Israel,  that  thou 
sendest  to  inquire  of  Baal-zebub  the  god  of  Ekron? 
therefore   thou   shalt    not   come   down    from    the    bed 

7  whither  thou  art  gone  up,  but  shalt  surely  die.  And  he 
said  unto  them,  What  manner  of  man   was  he  which 

8  came  up  to  meet  you,  and  told  you  these  w^ords  ?  And 
they  answered  him.  He  was  an  hairy  man,  and  girt  with 
a  girdle  of  leather  about  his  loins.     And  he  said,  It  is 

9  Elijah  the  Tishbite.  Then  the  king  sent  unto  him  a 
captain  of  fifty  with  his  fifty.  And  he  went  up  to  him  : 
and,  behold,  he  sat  on  the  top  of  the  hill.  And  he 
spake  unto  him,   O  man  of  God,  the  king  hath  said, 

simply  an  individual  angel— one  of  the  many  messengers  who 
execute  Yahweh's  behests. 

Is  it  because,  &c.      Elijah's  'jealousy'  for  the  Lord  God  of 
Hosts  comes  out  in  this  indignant  question. 

8.  an  hairy  man  {lit.  'possessor  of  hair')  :  i.e.  one  clothed 
with  a  garment  of  hair  ;  see  on  i  Kings  xix.  19. 

The  grirdle  (W.  R.   Smith,   '  waistcloth ')  of  leather  is  not 
elsewhere  referred  to  in  the  O.  T.   (cf.  Mark  i.  6). 

9  ff.  The  calling  down  of  fire  from  heaven  on  the  presumptuous 
soldiery  is  the  only  painful  episode  in  all  the  histories  of  Elijah  ; 
and  it  is  difficult  to  think  that  the  author  of  ch.  xvii-xix  would  have 
lowered  the  moral  grandeur  of  his  hero  by  so  extravagant  a  display 
of  superhuman  power. 


11    KINGS  1.  10-16.     Ef  275 

Come  down.     And   Elijah  answered   and   said   to   the  10 
captain  of  fifty,  If  I  be  a  man  of  God,  let  fire  come 
down   from   heaven,  and  consume  thee  and   thy  fifty. 
And  there  came  down  fire  from  heaven,  and  consumed 
him  and  his  fifty.     And  again  he  sent  unto  him  another  11 
captain  of  fifty  with  his  fifty.      And  he  answered  and 
said  unto  him,  O  man  of  God,  thus  hath  the  king  said, 
Come  down  quickly.      And  Elijah  answered  and  said  12 
unto  them.  If  I  be  a  man  of  God,  let  fire  come  down 
from  heaven,  and  consume  thee  and  thy  fifty.     And  the 
fire  of  God  came  down  from  heaven,  and  consumed  him 
and  his  fifty.     And  again  he  sent  the  captain  of  a  third  13 
fifty  with  his  fifty.     And  the  third  captain  of  fifty  went 
up,  and  came  and  fell  on  his  knees  before  Elijah,  and 
besought  him,  and  said  unto  him,  O  man  of  God,  I  pray 
thee,  let  my  life,  and  the  Hfe  of  these  fifty  thy  servants, 
be  precious  in  thy  sight.     Behold,  there  came  fire  down  14 
from  heaven,  and  consumed  the  two  former  captains  of 
fifty  with  their  fifties  :  but  now  let  my  life  be  precious  in 
thy  sight.     And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  Elijah,  15 
Go   down  with  him :    be  not  afraid  of  him.     And  he 
arose,  and  went  down  with  him  unto  the  king.     And  he  16 
said  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Forasmuch  as  thou 
hast  sent  messengers  to  inquire  of  Baal-zebub  the  god  of 
Ekron,  is  it  because  there  is  no  God  in  Israel  to  inquire 
of  his  word  ?  therefore  thou  shalt  not  come  down  from 
the  bed  whither  thou  art  gone  up,  but  shalt  surely  die. 

11.  And  lie  answered  is  probably  a  scribal  error  for  ^  And  he 
went  up  '  (as  verses  9,  13). 

13.  the  captain  of  a  third  fifty:  rather,  as  LXX  (L),  '  a  third 
captain  of  fifty.'  The  behaviour  of  this  third  captain  illustrates 
the  respect  due  to  a  prophet,  which  it  is  obviously  the  writer's 
design  to  inculcate. 

16.  is  it  because  .  .  .  word?  The  words  are  a  gloss  from 
verses  3,  6,  and  should  be  omitted,  with  LXX. 


276  II    KINGS   1.  17— 2.  I.     Ej^DEs 

17  So  lie  died  according  lo  the  word  of  the  Lord  which 
Elijah  had  spoken.  |  D]  And  Jehoram  began  to  reign  in 
his  stead  in  the  second  year  of  Jehoram  the  son  of 
Jehoshaphat  king  of  Judah ;    because  he  had  no  son. 

18  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Ahaziah  which  he  did,  are 
they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the 
kings  of  Israel  ? 

2      [Es]  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  Lord  would  take  up 

i.  17'',  18.  Conclusion.  The  formula  is  irregular  in  several 
respects.  ,i)  Verse  18  ought  to  precede  17^,  and  between  the 
two  there  should  be  the  notice  of  the  king's  burial.  (2)  The 
synchronism  in  verse  17  belongs  to  the  introductory  formula  of 
the  succeeding  reign.  (3)  That  synchronism  ('  in  the  second  year 
of  Jehoram')  is  based  on  the  system  peculiar  to  the  LXX  (see 
on  I  Kings  xxii.  51),  and  is  at  variance  with  the  scheme  of  the 
Hebrew  text  i,cf  iii.  i).  Now,  we  are  here  confronted  by  a  very 
intricate  problem  of  textual  criticism.  The  MSS.  of  the  LXX 
exhibit  great  variations  ;  but  they  agree  in  inserting  at  this  point 
the  introductory  notice  on  Jehoram  of  Israel  (a  parallel  to  iii.  1-3). 
And  they  continue  significantly  :  '  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was 
kindled  against  the  house  of  Ahab,'  which  looks  very  like  a  preface 
to  the  extirpation  of  the  dynasty  recorded  in  ch.  ix,  x.  Further, 
it  must  be  observed  that  if  the  chronological  system  of  the  LXX 
was  ever  consistently  carried  out  in  any  series  of  MSS.,  the  reign 
of  Jehoram  of  Judah  (viii.  16-24)  must  have  been  placed  between 
those  of  Ahaziah  and  Jehoram  of  Israel.  All  these  facts,  together 
with  others  to  be  noted  later  (viii.  16,  ix.  29),  go  to  show  that  the 
disorder  in  this  passage  is  connected  with  sweeping  operations  on 
the  text,  in  the  course  of  which  the  independent  Elisha-narratives 
(see  below)  were  freely  transposed  in  accordance  with  the  views 
of  different  editors. 

17.  After  Jehoram  insert  with  LXX  (L),  '  his  brother.' 

in  the  second  year  begins  a  new  sentence,  a  fragment  of  the 
introductory  formula  of  Jehoram  of  Israel  (.see  above;. 

ii.  Elijah  succeeded  by  Elisha. 

That  the  chapter  belongs  to  the  mass  of  prophetic  literature 
that  had  gathered  round  the  names  of  the  two  great  northern 
prophets  is  obvious.  As  there  was  a  Life  of  Elijah  (see  on  i  Kings 
xvii-xix),  so  there  must  have  been  a  Life  of  Elisha,  or  at  least  a  col- 
lection of  traditions  and  anecdotes  respecting  Elisha,  a  large  num- 
ber of  which  are  preserved  in  the  earlier  part  of  2  Kings  (ch.  ii,  iv- 


II   KINGS  2.  2.     Es  277 

Elijah  by  a  whirlwind  into  heaven,  that  Eh"jah  went  with 
EHsha  from  Gilgal.     And  Ehjah  said  unto  Ehsha,  Tarry  2 

vii,  viii.  1-15,  xiii.  14-21).  These  may  be  supposed  to  have  been 
reduced  to  writing  by  the  sons  of  the  prophets  in  various  localities, 
and  afterwards  put  loosely  together,  either  in  an  independent  work 
or  as  an  appendix  to  the  history  of  Elijah.  There  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  these  narratives  faithfully  reflect  the  general  character  of 
Elisha's  work,  which  touched  life  at  much  lower  levels  than  that  of 
his  great  predecessor.  For  reasons  stated  below,  the  account  of 
Elijah's  translation  in  verses  1-18  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  introduc- 
tion to  the  group  of  Elish  a- narratives,  rather  than  the  close  of  the 
biography  of  Elijah. 

ii.  1-18.  The  Translation  of  Elijah.  Elijah,  accompanied  by 
Elisha,  pays  a  series  of  farewell  visits  to  the  prophetic  communi- 
ties in  the  vicinity  of  the  Jordan  valley ;  and  at  each  place  finds 
the  presentiment  of  his  approaching  departure  echoed  by  members 
of  the  local  fraternity.  The  two  then  cross  the  Jordan  together, 
into  the  region  where  Moses  lay  buried  in  a  grave  which  no  man 
knew.  Elisha,  who  has  persistently  refused  to  leave  his  master, 
asks  as  a  last  request  that  he  may  be  so  endowed  with  the  spirit 
of  Elijah  as  to  be  able  to  continue  his  work.  Elijah's  answer 
is  hesitating  and  conditional  :  if  a  spiritual  vision  of  the  transla- 
tion be  vouchsafed  to  him,  then  he  will  know  that  his  prayer 
is  granted.  Suddenly,  as  they  walk  together,  they  are  separated 
by  a  chariot  and  horses  of  fire  ;  and  Elijah  is  caught  up  into 
heaven.  Elisha,  understanding  the  significance  of  the  vision  for 
himself,  takes  up  the  mantle  that  had  fallen  from  Elijah  ;  and 
with  it  repeats  the  miracle  of  dividing  the  Jordan,  thus  proving 
himself  the  successor  of  Elijah.  Fifty  prophets  who  witnessed 
the  scene  at  once  acknowledge  him  as  the  head  of  their  order, 
though  their  lingering  doubts  of  the  reality  of  Elijah's  translation 
are  not  removed  till  they  have  searched  the  district  for  three  days. 

The  narrative  would  undoubtedly  form  in  every  respect 
a  worthy  sequel  to  i  Kings  xvii-xix  ;  but  it  contains  some 
features  which  show  that  we  have  to  do  with  a  different  writing. 
(i)  Elijah's  close  personal  relations  with  the  prophetic  guilds  is 
nowhere  alluded  to  in  any  of  the  Elijah-narratives,  and  is  not 
in  keeping  with  the  impression  of  solitariness  which  is  reflected 
from  all  these  records.  It  might  of  course  be  supposed  that  he 
had  changed  his  manner  of  life  before  the  end  (Ewald)  ;  but  the 
feeling  remains  that  we  have  rather  to  do  with  distinct  concep- 
tions of  his  career.  (2)  In  i  Kings  xix  Elisha  is  already  desig- 
nated as  Elijah's  successor  and  invested  with  his  mantle  ;  here,  on 
the  contrarj',  the  succession  is  still  doubtful,  and  contingent  on 
an  event  which  is  hidden   even    from    Elijah  himself.     (3)  The 


«78  II    KINGS  2.  3-7.     Es 

here,  I  pray  thee ;  for  the  Lord  hath  sent  me  as  far  as 
Beth-el.  And  Elisha  said,  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as 
thy  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave  thee.     So  they  went 

3  down  to  Beth-el.  And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  that 
were  at  Beth-el  came  forth  to  Elisha,  and  said  unto  him, 
Knowest  thou  that  the  Lord  will  take  away  thy  master 
from  thy  head  to-day?    And  he  said.  Yea,  I  know  it; 

4  hold  ye  your  peace.  And  Elijah  said  unto  him,  Elisha, 
tarry  here,  I  pray  thee ;  for  the  Lord  hath  sent  me  to 
Jericho.  And  he  said.  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy 
soul   liveth,   I  will  not  leave  thee.     So  they  came   to 

5  Jericho.  And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  that  were  at 
Jericho  came  near  to  Elisha,  and  said  unto  him,  Knowest 
thou  that  the  Lord  will  take  away  thy  master  from  thy 
head  to-day  ?     And  he  answered,  Yea,  I  know  it ;  hold 

C  ye  your  peace.  And  Elijah  said  unto  him.  Tarry  here, 
I  pray  thee ;  for  the  Lord  hath  sent  me  to  Jordan.  And 
he  said.  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  .soul  liveth,  I  will 

7  not  leave  thee.  And  they  two  went  on.  And  fifty  men 
of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  went,  and  stood  over  against 

writer  of  i  Kings  xix.  15  ft',  could  scarcely  have  thought  of  Elijah 
as  'The  chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof  (cf.  xiii.  14). 
When  we  consider  that  the  incident  marks  the  beginning  of 
Elisha's  ministry  as  much  as  the  close  of  Elijah's,  we  naturally 
assign  it  to  the  senes  of  narratives  with  which  it  has  the  closest 
aflinities,  those,  namely',  pertaining  to  the  Life  of  Elisha. 

1.  Gilgal  is  spoken  of  as  if  it  were  the  ordinary  residence  of 
Elijah  and  Elisha  (cf.  iv.  38).  .Since  they  'went  down  '  to  Beth-el 
(verse  2)  it  cannot  be  the  Gilgal  of  Joshua  iv.  19,  which  laj' 
between  Jericho  and  the  Jordan.  There  must  have  been  man3' 
^ignls  (cromlechs)  in  the  countr}',  and  the  one  here  meant  must 
have  been  in  the  central  high  land,  perhaps  the  present  Jiljilia, 
about  seven  miles  north  of  Beth-el  {G.  A.  Smith, //is/.  Geog.  p.  494). 

3.  On  sons  of  the  prophets,  see  on  i  Kings  xx.  35. 

4.  Jericho.     See  on  i  Kings  xvi.  34. 

•7.  The  fifty  men  are  witnesses  of  the  double  miracle  of  dividing 
the  water  'verse  15^  ;  but  not,  of  course,  of  what  took  place  on 
the  further  side. 


II    KINGS  2.  8-12,     Es  279 

them  afar  off:   and  they  two  stood  by  Jordan.     And   8 
Eh'jah  took  his  mantle,  and  v;rapped  it  together,  and 
smote   the  waters,   and  they  were  divided    hither   and 
thither,  so  that  they  two  w^ent  over  on  dry  ground.     And   9 
it  came  to  pass,  when  they  were  gone  over,  that  Ehjah 
said  unto  EHsha,  Ask  what  I  shall  do  for  thee,  before 
I  be  taken  from  thee.     And  Elisha  said,  I  pray  thee,  let 
a  double  portion  of  thy  spirit  be  upon  me.     And  he  said,  10 
Thou  hast  asked  a  hard  thing :  nevertheless,  if  thou  see 
me  when  I  am  taken  from  thee,  it  shall  be  so  unto  thee ; 
but  if  not,  it  shall  not  be  so.     And  it  came  to  pass,  as  n 
they  still  went  on,  and  talked,  that,  behold,  t?iere  appeared 
a  chariot  of  fire,  and  horses  of  fire,  which  parted  them 
both  asunder ;  and  Elijah  went  up  by  a  whirlwind  into 
heaven.     And  Elisha  saw  it,  and  he  cried.  My  father,  my  1 2 
father,  the  chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof ! 

9.  a  double  portion  is  rightly  explained  in  the  margin  as  the 
portion  of  the  firstborn  son,  which  was  twice  as  much  as  that  of 
tlie  other  sons  (Deut.  xxi.  17).  It  requires  some  hardihood  to  take 
the  expression  literally,  and  then  prove  by  a  comparison  of  mira- 
cles that  Elisha  was  really  twice  as  great  a  prophet  as  Elijah 
(Ecclus.  xlviii.  12).  The  burden  of  Elisha's  petition  is  that  he  may 
be  worthy  to  succeed  Elijah  as  head  of  the  prophetic  body. 

thy  spirit.     See  verse  15. 

10.  The  vision  of  heavenly  realities  is  withheld  from  ordinary 
men  (see  vi.  17)  ;  if  that  gift  should  be  bestowed  on  Elisha,  it 
will  be  the  sign  that  God  has  answered  his  prayer. 

11.  a  chariot  of  fire,  &c.  The  religious  imagination  had  clothed 
the  idea  of  Yahweh's  omnipotence  in  forms  derived  from  earthly 
warfare  ;  his  heavenly  army  contained  horses  and  chariots  in- 
visible to  mortal  eyes,  composed  of  the  fiery  element  in  which 
Yahweh  dwells.  Passages  to  be  compared  are  vi.  17  ;  Hab.  iii.  8  f.  ; 
Ps.  Ixviii.  17.  The  conception  is  related  on  the  one  hand  to  the 
name  Yahweh  of  Hosts,  and  perhaps  on  its  lower  mythological 
side  to  the  horses  and  chariots  of  the  sun-god,  of  which  we  read 
in  xxiii.  11. 

12.  the  chariots  of  Israel.  The  apostrophe  is  more  probably 
addressed  to  Elijah  himself  than  to  the  chariots,  &c.,  which  had 
borne  him  away.    This  at  least  is  the  only  kind  of  reference  possible 


28o  II    KINGS  2.  13-17.     Es 

And  he  saw  him  no  more :  and  he  took  hold  of  his  own 

13  clothes,  and  rent  them  in  two  pieces.  He  took  up  also 
the  mantle  of  Elijah  that  fell  from  him,  and  went  back, 

14  and  stood  by  the  bank  of  Jordan.  And  he  took  the 
mantle  of  Elijah  that  fell  from  him,  and  smote  the  waters, 
and  said,  Where  is  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Elijah  ?  and 
when  he  also  had  smitten  the  waters,  they  were  divided 

T5  hither  and  thither:  and  Elisha  went  over.  And  when 
the  sons  of  the  prophets  which  were  at  Jericho  over 
against  him  saw  him,  they  said,  The  spirit  of  Elijah  doth 
rest  on  Elisha.     And  they  came  to  meet  him,  and  bowed 

16  themselves  to  the  ground  before  him.  And  they  said 
unto  him,  Behold  now,  there  be  with  thy  servants  fifty 
strong  men ;  let  them  go,  we  pray  thee,  and  seek  thy 
master :  lest  peradventure  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  hath 
taken  him  up,  and  cast  him  upon  some  mountain,  or 

17  into  some  valley.  And  he  said.  Ye  shall  not  send.  And 
when  they  urged  him  till  he  was  ashamed,  he  said,  Send. 
They  sent  therefore  fifty  men  ;   and  they  sought  three 


in  xiii.  14  ;  the  meaning  in  both  cases  would  be  that  the  prophet 
was  a  greater  strength  to  his  nation  than  all  its  chariots  and  horses. 

13.  the  mantle  of  Elijali.      See  on  i  Kings  xix.  19. 

14.  lie  also:  answering  to  marg.,  'even  he.'  Both  renderings 
are  at  fault.  The  Hebrew  phrase  {^aph  htV)  should  be  read  ^cpho'  : 
it  does  not  need  to  be  translated,  being  merely  an  intensive  par- 
tide  adding  emphasis  to  the  preceding  question. 

15.  The  words  at  Jericho  must  have  come  in  by  mistake  (see 
verse  7)  ;  the  bed  of  the  Jordan  is  not  visible  from  Jericho.  By 
the  spirit  of  Elijah  these  prophets  understand  the  Divine  energy 
as  the  source  of  thaumaturgic  power ;  and  this  is  probably  the 
sense  of  Elisha's  praj'er  also  (verse  9). 

16.  lest  peradventiire  the  spirit.  See  i  Kings  xviii.  12. 
The  suddenness  and  mj'stery  of  Elijah's  appearances  and  dis- 
appearances had  given  rise  to  the  belief  that  he  was  transported 
hither  and  thither  by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  :  for  the  idea,  of. 
Ezek.  iii.  14,  viii.  3,  xi.  i,  24,  &c.,  where,  however,  the  condition  is 
ecstatic. 


II    KINGS  2.  iS-24.     Es  281 

days,  but  found  him  not.     And  tliey  came  back  to  him,  18 
while  he  tarried  at  Jericho ;  and  he  said  unto  them,  Did 
I  not  say  untu  you,  Go  not? 

And  the  men  of  the  city  said  unto  EHsha,  Behold,  we  19 
pray  thee,  the  situation  of  this  city  is  pleasant,  as  my  lord 
seeth :  but  the  water  is  naught,  and  the  land  miscarrieth. 
And  he  said,  Bring  me  a  new  cruse,  and  put  salt  therein.  20 
And  they  brought  it  to  him.     And  he  went  forth  unto  21 
the  spring  of  the  waters,  and  cast  salt  therein,  and  said, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  healed  these  waters ;  there 
shall  not  be  from  thence  any  more  death  or  miscarrying. 
So  the  waters  were  healed  unto  this  day,  according  to  the  22 
word  of  Elisha  which  he  spake. 

And  he  went  up  from  thence  unto  Beth-el :  and  as  he  23 
was  going  up  by  the  way,  there  came  forth  little  children 
out  of  the  city,  and  mocked  him,  and  said  unto  him,  Go 
up,  thou  bald  head ;  go  up,  thou  bald  head.     And  he  24 

ii.  19-22.  Healing  of  the  Waters  of  Jericho.  The  passage  em- 
bodies a  local  tradition  to  the  effect  that  the  principal  fountain 
of  Jericho  owed  its  salubrious  qualities  to  a  miracle  performed  on 
it  by  Elisha.  The  'Aitt  es-Sultan,  a  perennial  fountain  of  sweet 
and  palatable  water  rising  at  the  foot  of  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
city,  is  sometimes  called  the  Fountain  of  Elisha  ;  and  is  no  doubt 
the  source  referred  to  here.  Its  previous  badness  seems  to  have 
consisted  in  some  occult  influence  supposed  to  emanate  from  it, 
which  had  produced  frequent  abortions  throughout  the  region. 

19.  miscarrieth:  rather,  '  causes  miscarriages.'  The  marginal 
rendering,  however,  is  defensible  ;  see  Mai.  iii.  11. 

21.  miscarrying'  is  the  same  word  as  in  verse  19,  although 
we  should  have  expected  a  substantive  in  place  of  a  participle. 

22.  unto  this  day.  The  narrative,  therefore,  was  written  some 
time  after  the  incident. 

ii.  23-25.  Elisha  and  the  Children  of  Beth-el.  On  his  homeward 
journey,  passing  through  Beth-el,  Elisha  is  insulted  by  a  crowd 
of  young  boys,  and  curses  them  in  the  name  of  his  God.  Two 
she-bears  come  out  of  the  wood  and  rend  forty-two  of  their 
number.  The  story  is  recorded  (like  i,  9fr.)  to  enforce  the  lesson 
of  respect  for  the  office  and  person  of  the  prophet. 

23.  The  insult  lies  in  the  derisive  epithet  bald  head,  baldness 


282  II    KINGS  2.  25—3.  I.     Es  D 

looked  behind  him  and  saw  them,  and  cursed  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  there  came  forth  two  she- 
bears  out  of  the  wood,  and  tare  forty  and  two  children  of 
25  them.  And  he  went  from  thence  to  mount  Carmel,  and 
from  thence  he  returned  to  Samaria. 

3      [D]  Now  Jehoram  the  son  of  Ahab  began  to  reign 

being  counted  a  disgrace  in  antiquity.  The  Arabs  are  said  to 
distinguish  between  crown-baldness,  which  is  called  the  baldness 
of  slaves,  and  forehead-baldness,  which  is  called  noble  baldness, 
as  due  to  the  pressure  of  a  helmet  (Macalister,  in  DB,  i.  p.  235). 
Cf.  Isa.  iii,  17-24. 

25.  returned  to  Samaria.  Wellhausen  has  suggested  that 
the  original  document  may  have  read  *  to  Gilgal,'  in  accordance 
with  verse  i,  and  that  Samaria  was  substituted  by  an  editor  to 
give  a  more  natural  connexion  with  ch.  iii.  But  the  word  returned 
may  refer  to  the  circuitous  route  described,  from  Beth-el  to  Car- 
mel and  back  to  Samaria. 

iii.  Jehoram  of  Israel.      The  Moabite  Campaign. 

The  introductory  formula  (verses  1-3)  is,  of  course,  from  the 
pen  of  the  compiler.  The  remainder  of  the  chapter  is  the  history 
of  a  joint-expedition  of  Jehoram  and  his  allies  against  Moab, 
during  which  the  united  armies  were  saved  from  destruction  by 
the  instrumentalit}'  of  the  prophet  Elisha.  Wellliausen  and  most 
critics  consider  that  the  main  interest  of  the  writer  was  in  the 
political  events  he  describes,  that  therefore  the  passage  belongs 
to  the  same  class  of  popular  histories  as  i  Kings  xx,  xxii,  and 
was  in  fact  composed  by  the  author  of  these  two  chapters.  Some, 
however  (Benzinger  and  Kittel).  hold  that  tiie  whole  passage  only 
serves  as  a  background  for  the  Elisha-episode.  and  is  accordingly 
to  be  regarded  as  an  extract  from  the  biography  of  Elisha.  The 
point  is  not  easy  to  determine.  There  are  undoubtedly  some 
striking  resemblances  to  i  Kings  xx,  xxii,  which  strongly  favour 
the  view  of  Wellhausen  :  cf.  verses  7,  u  with  xxii.  4,  5,  7  ; 
and  note  the  frequent  tendency  to  omit  the  proper  names  of  the 
several  kings.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  indications  which 
seem  to  point  in  an  opposite  direction.  Thus  it  is  urged  that  in 
this  chapter  it  is  a  sufficient  introduction  of  Elisha  to  say  that  he 
had  been  the  servant  of  Elijah  (verse  11),  and  that  this  is  not 
likely  to  be  the  continuation  of  a  document  in  which  the  existence 
of  Elijah  himself  is  so  completely  ignored  as  in  i  Kings  xx,  xxii. 
And  again,  there  are  at  least  two  phrases  which  seem  formed 
after  the  style  of  the  Elijah-history :   cf.  verse  14   with  xvii.    i, 


II   KINGS  3.  2,  3.     D  283 

over  Israel  in  Samaria  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  Jeho- 
shaphat  king  of  Judah,  and  reigned  twelve  years.  And  2 
he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  ;  but 
not  like  his  father,  and  like  his  mother :  for  he  put  away 
the  pillar  of  Baal  that  his  father  had  made.  Nevertheless  3 
he  cleaved  unto  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 
wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin ;  he  departed  not 
therefrom. 

and  verse  20  with  xviii.  29,  36.  But  we  have  seen  that  i  Kings 
XX,  xxii  are  not  purely  pohtical :  the  narrative  has  been  utilized 
as  the  basis  of  a  series  of  pictures  illustrating  the  influence  of  the 
prophets  ;  and  we  may  readily  suppose  that  here  the  continuation 
of  that  narrative  has  been  similarly  treated,  and  perhaps  partly 
rewritten.  That  the  prophet  in  this  case  happens  to  be  Elisha  is 
an  insufficient  reason  for  assigning  the  whole  to  the  cycle  of 
Elisha-stories,  with  which  it  has  little  in  common.  (See  Introd. 
p.  28  f.) 

The  historicity  of  the  record  is  vouched  for  in  essential  respects 
by  the  discovery  at  Dibon  of  the  famous  Moabite  Stone,  erected 
to  commemorate  the  successful  revolt  of  Moab  against  Israel.  In 
the  inscription  Mesha  himself  relates  how  his  land  had  been 
oppressed  by  Omri  of  Israel  '■  many  days,'  and  afterwards  b}'  his 
son,  how  the  land  of  Medeba  had  been  occupied  by  Israel  during 
'  his  [Omri's]  days  and  half  his  son's  days,  forty  years,'  and  how 
by  the  help  of  Chemosh  his  god  he  had  gradually  expelled  the 
invaders,  capturing  their  strongholds  one  by  one  and  massacring 
or  enslaving  the  inhabitants  (see  Bennett  in  DB^  iii.  p.  404  ff.  ; 
and  Burney,  p.  371  ff.).  According  to  this  account  the  revolt 
broke  out,  not  after  the  death  of  Ahab  (as  i.  i,  iii.  5),  but  in  the 
middle  of  his  reign  ;  moreover,  in  the  biblical  chronology  the 
united  reigns  of  Omri  and  Ahab  amount  to  less  than  forty  years. 
These  are  the  only  points  in  which  the  two  records  are  directly 
in  conflict  ;  in  all  other  respects  they  may  be  used  to  supplement 
one  another.  The  events  recorded  in  this  chapter  belong  to 
a  period  subsequent  to  the  Moabite  inscription  ;  it  describes  an 
attempt  (but  apparentl}'  an  unsuccessful  attempt)  of  Jehorani  to 
restore  the  Israelitish  supremacy  over  Moab. 

iii.  1-3.     Jntroditction.     See  on  i.  17  f. 

2.  For  pillar  (i.  e.  ntazscbdh,  see  on  i  Kings  xiv.  23)  the  LXX 
reads  the  plural  'pillars.'  The  reformation  here  attributed  to 
Jehoram  must  have  been  very  partial,  since  the  worship  of  the 
Tyrian  Baal  was  still  in  full  exercise  at  the  time  of  Jehu's 
revolution. 


284  II    KINGS  3.  4-r.     N 

4  [N]  Now  Mesha  king  of  Moab  was  a  sheepmaster ;  and 
he  rendered  unto  the  king  of  Israel  the  wool  of  an 
hundred  thousand  lambs,  and  of  an  hundred  thousand 

5  rams.  But  it  came  to  pass,  when  Ahab  was  dead,  that 
the  king  of  Moab  rebelled  against  the  king  of  Israel. 

6  And  king  Jehoram  went  out  of  Samaria  at  that  time,  and 

7  mustered  all  Israel.  And  he  went  and  sent  to  Jeho- 
shaphat  the  king  of  Judah,  saying.  The  king  of  Moab 
hath  rebelled  against  me :  wilt  thou  go  with  me  against 
Moab  to  battle  ?     And  he  said,  I  will  go  up ;  I  am  as 

iii.  4-10.  Preparations  for  the  Invasion  of  Moab.  Since  the 
death  of  Ahab,  Mesha  had  withheld  the  annual  tribute  of  wool 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  pay  to  the  kings  of  Israel ;  and, 
as  we  learn  from  his  inscription,  had  expelled  the  Israelites  from 
his  territory.  In  order  to  subdue  this  petty  state  Jehoram 
collects  his  entire  army,  and  calls  on  his  vassal  Jehoshaphat*  of 
Judah  to  take  part  in  the  expedition,  which  it  was  arranged 
should  march  round  the  Dead  Sea  and  invade  Moab  from  the 
south.  On  the  route  they  are  joined  by  the  king  of  Edom,  who 
must  at  this  time  have  been  Jehoshaphat's  vassal.  But  the  allied 
army  suffered  so  severely  from  want  of  water  that  on  reaching 
the  Moabite  frontier  (the  IVadi  el-Ahsci)  advance  and  retreat 
seemed  alike  impossible,  and  Jehoram's  courage  utterly  failed  him. 

4.  a  sheepxuaster :  Heb.  noked  (cf.  Amos  i.  i),  a  keeper  of 
the  peculiar  stunted  and  short-legged  breed  of  sheep  still  called 
by  the  Arabs  nakad,  and  highly  esteemed  on  account  of  its  wool. 

he  rendered.  The  verb  is  frequentative  :  '  used  to  render,' 
year  by  year.  The  tribute  seems  excessive,  and  it  is  not  clear 
whether  it  consisted  in  the  animals  or  only  in  their  fleeces,  or 
whether  the  explicative  accusative  wool  applies  to  the  rams  alone 
(see  marg.). 

5.  Cf.  i.  I  ;  and  see  introductory  note  above. 

7.  Cf.  I  Kings  xxii.  4,  The  same  relation  of  vassalage  is  here 
presupposed. 

^  LXX  (L)  substitutes  the  name  of  Ahaziah  of  Judah  for  that  of 
Jehoshaphat  in  this  chapter.  The  motive  for  the  change  is  apparent. 
According  to  the  chronological  scheme  of  Lucian,  Jehoram  of  Israel 
and  Jehoshaphat  were  at  no  time  contemporaries.  It  is,  of  course, 
possible  that  originally  the  name  of  the  king  of  Judah  was  not  given 
at  all  (Benzinger) ;  but  still,  in  view  of  verse  14,  we  can  hardly 
doubt  that  Jehoshaphat  was  meant. 


II    KINGS  3.  8-II.     N  285 

thou  art,  my  people  as  thy  people,  my  horses  as  thy 
horses.     And  he  said,  AVhich  way  shall  we  go  up  ?     And   8 
he  answered.  The  way  of  the  wilderness  of  Edom.     So   9 
the  king  of  Israel  went,  and  the  king  of  Judah,  and  the 
king  of  Edom :  and  they  made  a  circuit  of  seven  days' 
journey  :  and  there  was  no  water  for  the  host,  nor  for  the 
beasts  that  followed  them.     And  the  king  of  Israel  said,  10 
Alas !  for  the  Lord  hath  called  these  three  kings  to- 
gether to  deliver  them  into  the  hand  of  Moab.     But  n 
Jehoshaphat  said,  Is  there  not  here  a  prophet  of  the 
Lord,  that  we  may  inquire  of  the  Lord  by  him  ?     And 
one  of  the  king  of  Israel's  servants  answered  and  said, 
Elisha  the  son  of  Shaphat  is  here,  which  poured  water  on 

8.  Whiich  way?  The  question  would  be  most  natural  in  the 
mouth  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  subordinate  party  ;  unless  we  suppose 
that  the  narrative  has  been  abridged,  and  that  here  we  have  the 
fragment  of  a  consultation  of  Yahweh  through  some  prophet  (see 
below  on  verse  13}.  The  choice  of  so  circuitous  a  route  is  perhaps 
to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  Mesha  had  already  fortified  the 
cities  in  the  northern  part  of  his  land  in  expectation  of  an  attack. 

9.  the  king*  of  Edom.  According  to  the  annalistic  statements 
of  I  Kings  xxii.  47,  2  Kings  viii.  20  there  was  no  king  of  Edom  at 
this  time.  For  this  reason  Ewald  thought  it  possible  that  the 
events  really  happened  in  the  reign  of  Jehoram  of  Judah,  and 
that  the  name  of  Jehoshaphat  as  the  better-known  king  was  sub- 
stituted by  mistake.    But  that  is  not  probable,  on  account  of  verse  14. 

10.  the  ZiORD  hath  called.  The  reference  may  be  to  prophetic 
oracles  (like  those  of  i  Kings  xxii)  predicting  a  favourable  issue 
of  the  campaign. 

iii.  11-28.  Consultation  of  Elisha.  Jehoshaphat  having  dis- 
covered that  the  prophet  Elisha  is  in  the  camp,  the  three  kings 
visit  him  to  seek  the  word  of  Yahweh.  Elisha  at  first  refuses 
to  answer  them,  but  afterwards  relents  out  of  consideration  for 
the  king  of  Judah,  and  calls  for  a  minstrel.  In  the  condition  of 
prophetic  excitation  induced  by  the  music,  he  gives  directions  for 
collecting  an  abundant  supply  of  water  which  will  be  mysteriously 
sent  to  the  armies  ;  and  adds  a  promise  of  complete  victory  over 
Moab. 

11.  Cf.  I  Kings  xxii.  7. 

which    potired    water :     i.  e.    was    the    servitor   of    Elijah 
(i  Kings  xix.  21). 


286  II    KINGS  3.  12-16.     N 

13  the  hands  of  EHjah.  And  Jehoshaphat  said,  The  word 
of  the  Lord  is  with  him.  So  the  king  of  Israel  and 
Jehoshaphat  and  the  king  of  Edom  went  down  to  him. 

T3  And  Elisha  said  unto  the  king  of  Israel,  What  have  I  to 
do  with  thee  ?  get  thee  to  the  prophets  of  thy  father,  and 
to  the  prophets  of  thy  mother.  And  the  king  of  Israel 
said  unto  him.  Nay  :  for  the  Lord  hath  called  these  three 
kings  together  to  deliver  them  into  the  hand  of  Moab. 

14  And  Elisha  said,  As  the  Lord  of  hosts  liveth,  before 
whom  I  stand,  surely,  were  it  not  that  I  regard  the 
presence  of  Jehoshaphat  the  king  of  Judah,  I  would  not 

15  look  toward  thee,  nor  see  thee.  But  now  bring  me 
a  minstrel.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  minstrel 
played,  that  the  hand  of  the   Lord  came  upon  him. 

16  And  he  said,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Make  this  valley  full 

12.  It  is  remarkable  that,  whereas  in  i  Kings  xxii  Jehoshaphat 
knows  nothing  of  the  northern  prophets  and  never  inquires  for 
Elijah,  here  he  is  so  famihar  with  their  names  that  he  at  once 
recognizes  Ehsha  as  a  true  man  of  God. 

13.  The  words  and  to  the  propliets  of  thy  motlier  are  wanting 
in  LXX  (B),  probably  by  mistake.  In  any  case,  by  the  propliets 
of  th.y  father  Elisha  must  mean  Baal-prophets  ;  for  this  sense 
alone  gives  point  to  Jehoram's  reply  :  '  Nay,  but  it  is  Yahweh 
who,'  &c.  The  reference  is  to  prophetic  oracles  (like  those  of 
I  Kings  xxii),  by  which  Yahweh  had  seemed  to  sanction  the 
enterprise,  though  Jehoram  now  fears  that  they  may  prove  to 
have  been  inspired  by  the  'lying  spirit.' 

15.  And  it  came  to  pass:  rather,  'And  it  used  to  be.'  It  is 
Elisha's  habitual  method  of  exciting  the  prophetic  condition  which 
is  described.  The  association  of  religious  music  with  the  earlier 
and  more  violent  exhibitions  of  prophecy  in  Israel  is  attested  by 
I  Sam.  X.  5  ;  and  similar  examples  are  found  in  Arabian  literature 
(W.  R.  Smith,  Prophets'^,  p.  392).  The  practice  had  probably 
been  kept  up  in  the  prophetic  guilds  with  which  Elisha  was  so 
closely  associated. 

the  hand  of  the   IiOBD   is  a  frequent  expression  for  the 
prophetic  trance. 

16.  this  valley.  The  scene  of  the  miracle  was  the  Wadi 
forming  the  frontier  between  Moab  and  Edom,  whose  upper 
reaches  still  bear  the  name  Wadi  cl-Alisd  ('valley  of  the  sandy 


II    KINGS  3.  17-21.     N  287 

of  trenches.     For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye  shall  not  see  17 
wind,  neither  shall  ye  see  rain,  yet  that  valley  shall  be 
filled  with  water :  and  ye  shall  drink,  both  ye  and  your 
cattle  and  your  beasts.     And  this  is  but  a  light  thing  in  18 
the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  he  will  also  deliver  the  Moabites 
into  your  hand.     And  ye  shall  smite  every  fenced  city,  19 
and  every  choice  city,  and  shall  fell  every  good  tree,  and 
stop  all  fountains  of  water,  and  mar  every  good  piece  of 
land  with  stones.     And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  morning,  20 
about  the  time  of  offering  the  oblation,  that,  behold,  there 
came  water  by  the  way  of  Edom,  and  the  country  was 
filled  with  water.      Now  when  all  the  Moabites  heard  21 


water-pits ').  The  peculiarity  of  the  region  is  that  the  water  from 
the  mountains  of  Edom  sinks  beneath  the  surface,  and  is  retained 
underground  by  the  rocky  bottom  ;  so  that  a  supply  can  almost 
always  be  obtained  by  digging  pits  in  the  sand.  The  tradition 
thus  rests  on  accurate  local  knowledge  ;  and  the  miracle  consists, 
like  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  in  an  enhancement  of  a  natural 
phenomenon   familiar   to   natives  of  the   district    (W.  R.  Smith, 

oryc^  p.  147)  ^ 

17.  For  your  cattle  read,  as  in  verse  9,  'your  host'  (so 
LXX  (L)). 

19.  and  every  choice  city  is  a  variant  of  the  preceding  clause, 
omitted  by  LXX.     See  further  on  verse  25  below, 

20.  about  the  time  .  .  .  oblation :  cf.  i  Kings  xviii.  29. 

by  the  way  of:  '  from  the  direction  of  Edom,  i.  e.  from  the 
south-east  along  the  course  of  the  Wadi.  The  pits  are  filled  to 
overflowing  by  the  water. 

iii.  21-27.  Conquest  and  Devastation  of  Moab.  The  Moabite 
levies  guarding  the  frontier,  deceived  by  the  reflection  of  the 
morning  light  on  the  v/ater-pits  and  thinking  it  blood,  conclude 

^  This  follows  the  ordinary  interpretation  of  verse  16.  Burney, 
however  (p.  270^,  points  out  that  it  is  opposed  by  verses  22,  23, 
*  where  the  phenomenon  described  must  have  been  produced  by  the 
sun  shining  upon  natural  2iT\d  so  irregular  and  wide-spreading /00/s 
of  water,  and  not  upon  artificial  and  so  (presumably)  symmetrically 
shaped  trenches.'  The  sentence  reads  literally:  'A  making  of  this 
valley  nothing  but  pits  '  ',  and  this  might  quite  well  be  rendered, 
'  I  will  make,'  &c.,  so  that  human  agency  would  be  excluded. 


288  II    KINGS  3.  22-25.     N 

that  the  kings  were  come  up  to  fight  against  them,  they 
gathered  themselves  together,  all  that  were  able  to  put  on 

22  armour,  and  upward,  and  stood  on  the  border.  And  they 
rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  the  sun  shone  upon 
the  water,  and  the  Moabites  saw  the  water  over  against 

33  them  as  red  as  blood  :  and  they  said,  This  is  blood ;  the 
kings  are  surely  destroyed,  and  they  have  smitten  each 

24  man  his  fellow  :  now  therefore,  Moab,  to  the  spoil.  And 
when  they  came  to  the  camp  of  Israel,  the  Israelites  rose 
up  and  smote  the  Moabites,  so  that  they  fled  before 
them  :  and  they  went  forward  into  the  land  smiting  the 

25  Moabites.    And  they  beat  down  the  cities ;  and  on  every 


that  the  allies  have  fallen  out  and  destroyed  one  another.  As 
they  rush  in  disorder  to  seize  the  spoil  they  are  easily  over- 
powered by  the  Israelitish  army,  which  then  presses  forward  into 
the  country,  destroying  every  mark  of  civilization  as  it  goes. 
Mesha  is  at  last  driven,  with  the  remains  of  his  army,  behind  the 
walls  of  his  capital,  from  which  he  makes  a  desperate  sortie,  in  the 
hope  of  reaching  the  king  of  Edom.  Being  foiled  in  this  attempt, 
he  offers  his  firstborn  son  as  a  propitiation  to  Chemosh  on  the 
wall  of  the  city  ;  whereupon,  in  some  way  not  explained,  the 
fortune  of  war  is  reversed,  ani  the  Israelites  are  compelled  to 
evacuate  the  country.  The  short  narrative  throws  a  lurid  light 
on  the  barbarities  of  ancient  warfare,  and  also  on  the  deep-seated 
religious  instincts  which,  in  Israel  as  amongst  its  heathen  neigh- 
bours, were  appealed  to  by  the  rite  of  human  sacrifice. 

21.  Read,  'Now  all  Moab  had  heard  .  .  .  and  had  been 
summoned  together.' 

22.  as  red  as  blood.  It  is  clear  from  the  context  that  the 
effect  was  due  to  the  red  rays  of  the  morning  sun  shining  upon 
the  water. 

23.  This  is  blood  :  LXX,  '  This  is  blood  of  the  sword  ' — an 
attractive  but  impossible  rendering  ! 

are  surely  destroyed.    Read,  with  marg. ,  '  have  surely  fought 
together.' 

24.  and  they  went  forward.  Render,  as  LXX  (with  a  very 
slight  change  of  text),  '  And  they  kept  pressing  forward,  smiting 
the  Moabites  as  they  went.' 

25.  The  methods  of  warfare  described  in  the  first  part  of  the 
verse  were  universal   in    antiquity.      '  In    Arabian    warfare    the 


II   KINGS  3.  26,  27.     N  289 

good  piece  of  land  they  cast  every  man  his  stone,  and 
filled  it ;  and  they  stopped  all  the  fountains  of  water,  and 
felled  all  the  good  trees :  until  in  Kir-hareseth  only  they 
left  the  stones  thereof;  howbeit  the  slingers  went  about 
it,  and  smote  it.  And  when  the  king  of  Moab  saw  that  26 
the  battle  was  too  sore  for  him,  he  took  with  him  seven 
hundred  men  that  drew  sword,  to  break  through  unto  the 
king  of  Edom  :  but  they  could  not.  Then  he  took  his  27 
eldest  son  that  should  have  reigned  in  his  stead,  and 
offered  him  for  a  burnt  offering  upon  the  wall.  And 
there  was  great  wrath  against  Israel :  and  they  departed 
from  him,  and  returned  to  their  own  land. 

destruction  of  an  enemy's  palm-groves  is  a  favourite  exploit,  and 
fertile  lands  are  thus  often  reduced  to  desert '  (W.  R.  Smith, 
OTJC^,  p.  369).  Here  they  are  sanctioned  and  even  enjoined  by 
a  prophet ;  but  in  later  times  the  attempt  was  made  to  soften 
their  barbarity  by  legislation  (Deut.  xx.  19  f.). 

The  clause  until  in  Kir-hareseth  .  .  .  thereof  is  very  difficult, 
and  the  text  so  corrupt  that  we  can  only  vaguely  conjecture  the 
sense.  It  is  plain  from  what  follows  that  it  must  have  contained 
the  name  of  a  fortress ;  and  this  guarantees  the  reading  of  Kir- 
hareseth  as  a  proper  name,  though  the  Massoretes  can  hardly 
have  understood  it  so,  any  more  than  did  the  LXX  and  Vulg. 
Kir-hareseth  (Isa.  xvi.  7,  11  =  '  Kir  of  Moab,'  xv.  i)  is  identified 
with  the  modern  Kemk,  occupying  an  impregnable  site  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Wadi  of  the  same  name,  about  twelve  miles 
north  of  the  Wadi  el-Ahsa.  For  the  rest,  the  sentence  may  have 
been  something  like  this  :  '  until  there  was  not  left  but  [.  .  .]  of 
her  [Moab's]  men  in  Kir-hareseth.' 

26.  unto  the  kingf  of  Edom,  who  was  probably  an  unwilling 
partner  in  the  alliance. 

27.  The  deity  to  whom  the  tribute  of  human  blood  was  paid 
was  necessarily  the  national  god  of  Moab,  Chemosh.  Cf.  Moabite 
Stone,  11.  II,  12:  <And  I  put  to  death  all  the  people  of  the 
town — a  pleasing  spectacle  for  Chemosh.''  The  meaning  of  the 
words  there  was  great  wrath  against  Israel  is  obscure.  The 
wrath  is  presumably  that  of  Chemosh,  whose  existence  and  power 
within  his  own  territory  were  not  doubted  by  the  Israelites  (see 
Judges  xi.  24)  ;  but  in  what  way  it  took  effect  we  are  not  told. 
Possibly  the  sickening  and  paralysing  horror  of  the  spectacle  was 
itself  attributed  to  a  supernatural  influence,  just  as  the  Greeks 

U 


29©  II    KINGS  4.  1-4.     Es 

4  [Es]  Now  there  cried  a  certain  woman  of  the  wives 
of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  unto  Elisha,  saying,  Thy 
servant  my  husband  is  dead  :  and  thou  knowest  that  thy 
servant  did  fear  the  Lord  :  and  the  creditor  is  come  to 

2  take  unto  him  my  two  children  to  be  bondmen.  And 
Ehsha  said  unto  her,  What  shall  I  do  for  thee  ?  tell  me ; 
what  hast  thou  in  the  house  ?  And  she  said,  Thine  hand- 
maid hath  not  any  thing  in  the  house,  save  a  pot  of  oil. 

3  Then  he  said.  Go,  borrow  thee  vessels  abroad  of  all  thy 

4  neighbours,  even  empty  vessels  ;  borrow  not  a  few.  And 
thou  shalt  go  in,  and  shut  the  door  upon  thee  and  upon  thy 
sons,  and  pour  out  into  all  those  vessels ;  and  thou  shalt 

believed  panic  to  be  inspired  by  the  god  Pan.     At  all  events,  the 
Israelites  had  to  withdraw  from  the  country. 

iv.  I — vi.  23.     Passages  in  the  Life  of  Elisha. 

Although  the  bulk  of  the  Elisha-narratives  are  inserted  at  this 
point,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  all  the  events  recorded  took 
place  within  the  reign  of  Jehoram.  The  greater  part  of  Elisha's 
career  fell  under  the  dynasty  of  Jehu  ;  and  the  friendly  terms  on 
which  the  prophet  sometimes  stands  with  the  *  king  of  Israel ' 
(always  unnamed)  are  more  intelligible  of  a  monarch  of  that  house 
than  of  a  son  of  Ahab  (cf.  iii.  13).  The  question,  however,  has  not 
much  importance  except  with  regard  to  the  setting  of  vi.  24  ff., 
and  need  not  be  discussed  till  we  come  to  that  section. 

iv.  1-7.  The  Mtiltiplication  of  the  Widow'' s  store  of  Oil.  The 
widow  of  one  of  the  prophets,  whose  two  sons  are  about  to  be 
seized  as  slaves  by  a  creditor,  appeals  to  Elisha.  Follovnng  his 
directions,  she  borrows  a  large  number  of  vessels,  and  commences 
to  fill  them  with  the  oil  in  her  household  flask,  finding  it  miracu- 
lously increased  in  the  process,  so  that  at  last  she  has  enough  to 
pay  off  the  debt  and  something  over  to  maintain  her  family.  The 
language  shows  a  slight  trace  of  local  dialect,  such  as  is  found 
elsewhere  in  the  Elisha-stories.  The  resemblance  of  the  miracle 
to  I  Kings  xvii.  8  ff.  should  be  noted. 

1.  The  creditor  was  within  his  rights  in  claiming  the  children  of 
the  debtor  as  bondservants :  cf.  Isa,  1.  i  ;  Exod.  xxi.  7  ;  Neh. 
V.  5- 

2.  oil  (i.  e.  olive  oil),  used  for  a  variety  of  domestic  purposes, 
was  almost  a  necessity  of  life  among  the  Hebrews,  and,  was  besides, 
an  important  article  of  commerce  (verse  7). 


II    KINGS  4.  5-10.     Es  291 

set  aside  that  which  is  full.     So  she  went  from  him,  and   5 
shut  the  door  upon  her  and  upon  her  sons  ;  they  brought 
the  vessels  to  her,  and  she  poured  out.     And  it  came  to   6 
pass,  when  the  vessels  were  full,  that  she  said  unto  her 
son,  Bring  me  yet  a  vessel.     And   he  said  unto  her, 
There  is  not  a  vessel  more.     And  the  oil  stayed.     Then    7 
she  came  and  told  the  man  of  God.     And  he  said.  Go, 
sell  the  oil,  and  pay  thy  debt,  and  live  thou  and  thy  sons 
of  the  rest. 

And  it  fell  on  a  day,  that  Elisha  passed  to  Shunem,   8 
where  was  a  great  woman ;  and  she  constrained  him  to 
eat  bread.     And  so  it  was,  that  as  oft  as  he  passed  by, 
he  turned  in  thither  to  eat  bread.     And  she  said  unto   9 
her  husband.   Behold  now,  I  perceive  that  this  is  an 
holy  man  of  God,  which  passeth  by  us  continually.     Let  10 
us  make,  I  pray  thee,  a  little  chamber  on  the  wall ;  and 

iv.  8-37.  The  Lady  of  Shunem  and  her  Son.  On  his  frequent 
journeys  through  Shunem  Elisha  is  entertained  by  a  wealthy  lady, 
who  at  length  persuades  her  husband  to  build  a  guest-chamber  on  , 
the  roof  of  their  house  for  his  accommodation.  As  a  reward  for 
her  hospitality  Elisha  promises  that  a  son  shall  be  born  to  her  in 
the  following  year.  In  course  of  time  the  child  grows  up,  and  one 
day  is  seized  by  sunstroke  in  the  harvest-field,  and  dies  the  same 
day.  In  her  distress  the  mother  seeks  out  the  man  of  God  at 
mount  Carmel,  and  at  his  feet  pours  out  all  the  bitterness  of  her 
soul.  Elisha  first  sends  his  staff  with  his  servant  Gehazi  to  lay  on 
the  face  of  the  child  ;  but  when  this  proves  unavailing  he  comes 
himself  and  restores  the  dead  child  to  life.  The  beautiful  story  is 
a  parallel  to  i  Kings  xvii.  17  ff.  ;  and  illustrates  the  blessings  that 
are  the  reward  of  reverence  for  a  holy  prophet  of  God.  At  the 
same  time  it  is  of  great  interest  for  the  light  it  throws  on  many 
details  of  social  life  in  ancient  Israel. 

8.  Shunem.    See  on  i  Kings  i.  3. 

as  oft  as  lie  passed  by:    on  his  journeys  between  Gilgal 
(ii.  I,  iv.  38)  and  Carmel  (verse  25). 

9.  an  holy  man  of  God.  On  '  man  of  God  '  as  a  designation  of 
the  prophet,  see  p.  190.  The  adjective  *  holy  '  does  not  in  this  con- 
nexion connote  saintliness  of  character,  but  the  formal  sanctity 
which  belongs  to  the  prophet  in  virtue  of  his  relation  to  God. 

10.  little  chamber  with  walls  (see  marg.)  :  as  distinguished 

U   2 


292  II    KINGS  4.  11-17.     Es 

let  us  set  for  him  there  a  bed,  and  a  table,  and  a  stool, 

and  a  candlestick :  and  it  shall  be,  when  he  cometh  to 

r  r  us,  that  he  shall  turn  in  thither.     And  it  fell  on  a  day, 

that  he  came  thither,  and  he  turned  into  the  chamber 

12  and  lay  there.  And  he  said  to  Gehazi  his  servant,  Call 
this  Shunammite.     And  when  he  had  called  her,  she 

13  stood  before  him.  And  he  said  unto  him^  Say  now  unto 
her,  Behold,  thou  hast  been  careful  for  us  with  all  this 
care;  what  is  to  be  done  for  thee?  wouldest  thou  be 
spoken  for  to  the  king,  or  to  the  captain  of  the  host? 
And  she  answered,  I  dwell  among  mine  own  people. 

14  And  he  said,  What  then  is  to  be  done  for  her?  And 
Gehazi  answered,  Verily  she  hath  no  son,  and  her  husband 

15  is  old.    And  he  said.  Call  her.     And  when  he  had  called 

16  her,  she  stood  in  the  door.  And  he  said,  At  this  season, 
when  the  time  cometh  round,  thou  shalt  embrace  a  son. 
And  she  said,  Nay,  my  lord,  thou  man  of  God,  do  not  lie 

17  unto  thine  handmaid.  And  the  woman  conceived,  and 
bare  a  son  at  that  season,  when  the  time  came  round, 

from  a  mere  temporary  erection  on  the  roof  for  the  reception  of 
a  chance  visitor  or  some  other  casual  purpose.  Cf.  i  Sam.  ix.  25 
(R.  V.  marg.) ;  2  Sam.  xvi.  22  ;  Neh.  viii.  16  :  see  further  on  i.  2 ; 
I  Kings  xvii.  19.  The  furniture  deemed  suitable  for  a  guest- 
chamber  in  those  days  consisted  of  a  bed,  a  table,  a  stool,  and 
a  lamp. 

13.  then  hast  been  careful:  a  peculiar  expression,  ///.  'hast 
trembled  '  ;  hast  been  anxiously  solicitous. 

Z  dwell  among  mine  own  people :  i.  e.  my  own  kindred.  As 
a  '  great  lady '  she  was  surrounded  by  relatives  powerful  enough 
to  protect  her  interests,  and  had  no  need  that  influence  should  be 
used  for  her  with  the  king  or  the  captain  of  the  host.  A  day  was 
to  come  when  it  was  far  otherwise  (viii.  1-6). 

16.  when  the  time  reviveth  (marg.)  :  a  difficult  phrase,  found 
elsewhere  only  in  Gen.  xviii.  10,  14  (J).  Usually  it  is  explained 
*  when  this  time  lives  again  '  =  '  this  time  next  year.'  Ewald  more 
plausibly  takes  it  to  mean  *  next  spring,'  the  season  when  the  year 
renews  its  life.     Neither  interpretation  seems  quite  satisfactory. 

do  not  lie :  create  delusive  expectations  (cf.  Hab.  ii.  3). 


II    KINGS  4.  18-27.     Es  293 

as  Elisha  had  said  unto  her.     And  when  the  child  was  18 
grown,  it  fell  on  a  day,  that  he  went  out  to  his  father  to 
the  reapers.     And  he  said  unto  his  father.  My  head,  my  19 
head.     And  he  said  to  his  servant,  Carry  him  to  his 
mother.     And  when  he  had  taken  him,  and  brought  him  20 
to  his  mother,  he  sat  on  her  knees  till  noon,  and  then 
died.     And  she  went  up,  and  laid  him  on  the  bed  of  21 
the  man  of  God,  and  shut  the  door  upon  him,  and  went 
out.     And  she  called  unto  her  husband,  and  said,  Send  22 
me,  I  pray  thee,  one  of  the  servants,  and  one  of  the 
asses,  that  I  may  run  to  the  man  of  God,  and  come  again. 
And  he  said.  Wherefore  wilt  thou  go  to  him  to-day?  it  33 
is  neither  new  moon  nor  sabbath.     And  she  said.  It  shall 
be  well.     Then  she  saddled  an  ass,  and   said  to  her  24 
servant.   Drive,  and  go  forward ;    slacken   me  not   the 
riding,  except  I  bid  thee.     So  she  went,  and  came  unto  25 
the  man  of  God  to  mount  Carmel.     And  it  came  to  pass, 
when  the  man  of  God  saw  her  afar  off,  that  he  said  to 
Gehazi  his  servant,  Behold,  yonder  is  the  Shunammite : 
run,  I  pray  thee,  now  to  meet  her,  and  say  unto  her.  Is  26 
it  well  with  thee  ?  is  it  well  with  thy  husband  ?  is  it  well 
with  the  child?     And  she  answered.  It   is  well.     And  27 
when  she  came  to  the  man  of  God  to  the  hill,  she  caught 

19  f.  Cf.  Judith  viii.  3  :  *  he  stood  over  them  that  bound  sheaves 
in  the  field,  and  the  heat  came  upon  his  head,  and  he  took  to  his 
bed  and  died.' 

21.  Cf.  I  Kings  xvii.  19. 

23.  The  husband's  answer  implies  that  it  was  the  ancient  custom 
to  make  somewhat  lengthy  pilgrimages  to  prophets  and  sacred 
places  at  the  new  moons  and  on  the  sabbaths.  The  distance  from 
Shunera  to  Carmel  would  be  twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  ;  much 
longer,  therefore,  than  the  sabbath  day's  journey  of  later  Judaism. 

26.  It  is  well :  or  simply,  *  Yes  ! '  (the  affirmative  answer  in 
Hebrew  is  expressed  by  repeating  part  of  the  question).  The 
spirit  of  the  answer  is  hardly  pious  resignation,  but  rather  reluc- 
tance to  lay  bare  her  trouble  to  any  but  the  man  of  God  himself. 


294  n    KINGS  4.  28-34.     Es 

hold  of  his  feet.  And  Gehazi  came  near  to  thrust  her 
away ;  but  the  man  of  God  said,  Let  her  alone :  for  her 
soul  is  vexed  within  her ;  and  the  Lord  hath  hid  it  from 

28  me,  and  hath  not  told  me.  Then  she  said,  Did  I  desire 
a  son  of  my  lord  ?  did  I  not  say,  Do  not  deceive  me  ? 

29  Then  he  said  to  Gehazi,  Gird  up  thy  loins,  and  take  my 
staff  in  thine  hand,  and  go  thy  way :  if  thou  meet  any 
man,  salute  him  not ;  and  if  any  salute  thee,  answer  him 
not  again :  and  lay  my  staff  upon  the  face  of  the  child. 

30  And  the  mother  of  the  child  said,  As  the  Lord  liveth, 
and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave  thee.     And  he 

31  arose,  and  followed  her.  And  Gehazi  passed  on  before 
them,  and  laid  the  staff  upon  the  face  of  the  child ;  but 
there  was  neither  voice,  nor  hearing.  Wherefore  he 
returned  to  meet  him,  and  told  him,  saying,  The  child 

32  is  not  awaked.  And  when  Elisha  was  come  into  the 
house,  behold,  the  child  was  dead,  and  laid  upon  his 

33  bed.     He  went  in  therefore,  and  shut  the  door  upon 

34  them  twain,  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord.  And  he  went 
up,  and  lay  upon  the  child,  and  put  his  mouth  upon  his 
mouth,  and  his  eyes  upon  his  eyes,  and  his  hands  upon 


28.  And  even  before  him  she  disguises  it  in  reproaches, 
through  which,  however,  the  prophet  perceives  the  cause  of 
her  sorrow,  although  the  Lord  had  not  revealed  it  to  him 
(verse  27). 

29.  salute  him  not :  cf.  Luke  x.  4.  In  both  cases  the  object 
of  the  injunction  is  to  avoid  the  waste  of  time  involved  in  the 
forma!  and  tedious  salutations  customary  in  the  East.  Elisha's  first 
thought  seems  to  have  been  that  the  child  was  not  really  dead  ; 
hence  he  sends  his  wonder-working  staff  by  the  hands  of  his 
servant,  '  as  if  to  prevent  any  more  life  from  issuing  from  the 
deceased  '  (Ewald) ;  but 

30.  the  mother,  who  knew  better,  insisted  that  he  should 
himself  accompany  her. 

31.  neither  voicei  nor  hearing*:  a  curious  coincidence  with 
I  Kings  xviii.  26. 


II    KINGS  4.  35-39.     Es  295 

his  hands  :  and  he  stretched  himself  upon  him ;  and  the 
flesh  of  the  child  waxed  warm.     Then  he  returned,  and  35 
walked  in  the  house  once  to  and  fro ;  and  went  up,  and 
stretched  himself  upon  him  :  and  the  child  sneezed  seven 
times,  and  the  child  opened  his  eyes.     And  he  called  3^ 
Gehazi,  and  said,  Call  this  Shunammite.     So  he  called 
her.     And  when  she  was  come  in  unto  him,  he  said, 
Take  up  thy  son.    Then  she  went  in,  and  fell  at  his  feet,  37 
and  bowed  herself  to  the  ground ;  and  she  took  up  her 
son,  and  went  out. 

And   Elisha   came   again  to  Gilgal :    and   there  was  38 
a  dearth  in  the  land  ;  and  the  sons  of  the  prophets  were 
sitting  before  him :  and  he  said  unto  his  servant,  Set  on 
the  great  pot,  and  seethe  pottage  for  the  sons  of  the 
prophets.    And  one  went  out  into  the  field  to  gather  herbs,  39 
and  found  a  wild  vine,  and  gathered  thereof  wild  gourds 

34.  stretched  himself  upon  him  :  '  crouched  over  him,'  the 
same  verb  as  i  Kings  xviii.  42. 

35.  The  words  and  the  child  sneezed  are  wanting  in  LXX  (B), 
which  thus,  more  naturally,  connects  the  '  seven  times  *  with  the 
action  of  the  prophet. 

iv.  38-41.  Death  in  the  Pot.  At  Gilgal,  in  a  time  of  dearth,  when 
Elisha  had  called  together  the  sons  of  the  prophets  to  a  common 
meal,  some  unwholesome  wild  fruit  was  thrown  into  the  pot  by 
mistake ;  whereupon  the  prophet  rendered  the  dish  innocuous  by 
casting  in  a  little  salt. 

38.  The  prophetic  community  at  Gilgal  (see  on  ii.  i)  seems  to 
have  led  a  coenobitic  life,  inhabiting  a  sort  of  monastery  (vi.  i), 
and  eating  at  a  common  table.  That  Ehsha  himself  dwelt  among 
them  is  perhaps  not  necessarily  implied  ;  and  in  v.  9  he  has  a 
private  house  of  his  own.  The  state  of  matters  presupposed  by 
iv.  I  ff.  appears  to  be  entirely  different. 

For  a  dearth  the  Hebrew  has  '  the  dearth,'  doubtless  the  seven 
years'  famine  predicted  in  viii.  i,  and  frequently  referred  to  in  the 
Elisha-stories. 

39.  a  wild  vine  .  .  -  wild  g-ourds :  lit.  '  vine  of  the  field  .  .  . 
gourds  of  the  field.'  The  plant  was  probably  the  colocynth  (so 
Vulg.),  which  might  be  called  a  vine  on  account  of  its  trailing 


296  II    KINGS   i.  40-44.     Es 

his  lap  full,  and  came  and  shred  them  into  the  pot  of  pot- 

40  tage  :  for  they  knew  them  not.  So  they  poured  out  for  the 
men  to  eat.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  were  eating  of 
the  pottage,  that  they  cried  out,  and  said,  O  man  of  God, 
there  is  death  in   the   pot.     And   they  could   not   eat 

41  thereof.  But  he  said,  Then  bring  meal.  And  he  cast  it 
into  the  pot ;  and  he  said.  Pour  out  for  the  people,  that 
they  may  eat.     And  there  was  no  harm  in  the  pot. 

42  And  there  came  a  man  from  Baal-shalishah,  and  brought 
the  man  of  God  bread  of  the  firstfruits,  twenty  loaves  of 
barley,  and  fresh  ears  of  corn  in  his  sack.     And  he  said, 

43  Give  unto  the  people,  that  they  may  eat.  And  his 
servant  said.  What,  should  I  set  this  before  an  hundred 
men  ?  But  he  said.  Give  the  people,  that  they  may  eat ; 
for  thus  saith  the  Lord,  They  shall  eat,  and  shall  leave 

44  thereof.  So  he  set  it  before  them,  and  they  did  eat,  and 
left  thereof,  according  to  the  w^ord  of  the  Lord. 

tendrils,  and  whose  fruit  might  be  mistaken  for  the  globe  cucumber. 
It  is  described  as  '  a  drastic  cathartic  and,  in  quantities,  an  irritant 
poison.' 

41.  Pour  out.  The  command  is  addressed  to  the  ser\'ant,  whom 
the  LXX  here  names  as  Gehazi. 

iv.  42-44.  T/te  Miraculous  Feeding  of  a  hundred  Prophets.  A 
small  offering  of  first-fruits  brought  to  the  man  of  God  from  Baal- 
shalishah  is  so  multiplied  as  to  appease  the  hunger  of  a  hundred  men 
and  leave  something  over.  The  *  men  '  arc  not  expressly  said  to 
be  prophets  ;  but  the  close  connexion  of  the  incident  with  the 
preceding  leaves  little  doubt  that  that  is  the  meaning.  The 
practice  of  offering  first-fruits  to  a  man  of  God  is  nowhere  else 
referred  to  :  see  on  v.  23. 

42.  It  is  said  in  the  Talmud  that  nowhere  did  the  fruits  of  the 
earth  ripen  so  quickly  as  at  Baal-shalisltah.  The  place  is  identified 
by  Conder  with  Khirbet  Kefr  Thilth,  about  fourteen  miles  north- 
west from  Jiljilia. 

fresh  ears  of  com:  better,  (freshly  plucked)  'garden 
growth  ' ;  cf.  Lev.  ii.  14,  xxiii.  14, 

sack :  or,  *  wallet.'  The  Hebrew  word  is  doubtful,  and  the 
text  somewhat  uncertain. 


II    KINGS  5.  1-5.     Es  297 

Now  Naanian,  captain  of  the  host  of  the  king  of  Syria,  5 
was  a  great  man  with  his  master,  and  honourable,  be- 
cause by  him  the  Lord  had  given  victory  unto  Syria  :  he 
was  also  a  mighty  man  of  valour,  but  he  was  a  leper. 
And  the  Syrians  had  gone  out  in  bands,  and  had  brought  2 
away  captive  out  of  the  land  of  Israel  a  little  maid ;  and 
she  waited  on  Naaman's  wife.     And  she  said  unto  her  3 
mistress,  Would  God  my  lord  were  with  the  prophet  that 
is  in  Samaria !  then  would  he  recover  him  of  his  leprosy. 
And  one  went  in,  and  told  his  lord,  saying.  Thus  and  4 
thus  said  the  maid  that  is  of  the  land  of  Israel.     And  the  5 
king  of  Syria  said,  Go  to,  go,  and  I  will  send  a  letter 
unto  the  king  of  Israel.     And  he  departed,  and  took  with 

V.  r-19.  The  Healing  of  Naaman  the  Syrian.  Naaman,  a  suc- 
cessful Syrian  general,  who  was  a  leper,  hears  through  a  Hebrew 
slave-girl  of  the  wonder-working  power  of  the  great  prophet  of 
Israel ;  and  is  sent  by  his  master  to  Samaria  to  be  healed.  The 
king  of  Israel  is  alarmed  by  the  peremptory  demand  of  the  Syrian 
monarch  ;  but  Elisha  interposes,  and  when  the  great  man  comes 
to  his  door  bids  him  wash  seven  times  in  the  Jordan.  Naaman 
at  first  proudly  refuses ;  but  afterwards  yields  to  the  remon- 
strances of  his  servants,  and  is  cured.  He  then  returns  to 
confess  his  faith  in  the  God  of  Elisha  as  the  only  God  in  all 
the  earth,  and  to  crave  permission  to  take  enough  soil  of  the 
land  of  Canaan  to  build  an  altar  to  Yahweh.  And  he  hopes  that 
when  his  official  duties  require  him  to  pay  an  outward  homage 
to  Rimmon,  this  will  not  be  misunderstood  or  hardly  judged  by 
the  prophet. 

1.  honourable:  lit.  'man  of  respect';  cf.  Isa.  iii.  3;  Job 
xxii.  8. 

The  phrase  a  mighty  man  of  valour  was  probably  a  marginal 
gloss  to  'great  man'  above.  It  is  wanting  in  LXX  (L),  which 
reads  simply,  '  but  the  man  was  a  leper.'  It  is  an  indication 
of  a  somewhat  advanced  theological  standpoint  that  the  Syrian 
victories  are  ascribed,  not  to  the  gods  of  Syria,  but  to  Yahweh. 

2.  gone  out  in  bands:  i.  e.  had  made  forays  into  Israelitish 
territory,  although  diplomatically  the  two  nations  were  at  peace. 

4.  The  fuller  text  of  LXX  {V)  reads, '  And  she  [Naaman's  wife] 
went  in,  and  told  her  lord,  and  he  told  the  king  and  said,  Thus 
and  thus,'  &c. 


298  II    KINGS  5.  6-1 1.     Es 

him  ten  talents  of  silver,  and  six  thousand  pieces  of  gold, 

6  and  ten  changes  of  raiment.  And  he  brought  the  letter 
to  the  king  of  Israel,  saying,  And  now  when  this  letter  is 
come  unto  thee,  behold,  I  have  sent  Naaman  my  servant 
to  thee,  that  thou  mayest  recover  him  of  his  leprosy. 

7  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king  of  Israel  had  read 
the  letter,  that  he  rent  his  clothes,  and  said.  Am  I  God, 
to  kill  and  to  make  alive,  that  this  man  doth  send  unto 
me  to  recover  a  man  of  his  leprosy  ?  but  consider,  I  pray 

8  you,  and  see  how  he  seeketh  a  quarrel  against  me.  And 
it  was  so,  when  Elisha  the  man  of  God  heard  that  the 
king  of  Israel  had  rent  his  clothes,  that  he  sent  to  the 
king,  saying,  Wherefore  hast  thou  rent  thy  clothes?  let 
him  come  now  to  me,  and  he  shall  know  that  there  is 

9  a  prophet  in  Israel.  So  Naaman  came  with  his  horses 
and  with  his  chariots,  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the  house 

10  of  EHsha.  And  Elisha  sent  a  messenger  unto  him, 
saying,  Go  and  wash  in  Jordan  seven  times,  and  thy  flesh 

11  shall  come  again  to  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  clean.  But 
Naaman  was  wroth,  and  went  away,  and  said,  Behold, 
I  thought,  He  will  surely  come  out  to  me,  and  stand, 
and  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  wave  his 

5.  changes  of  raiment :  cf.  Judges  xiv.  12,  13,  19. 

6.  And  now  :  a  verbal  citation  of  the  relevant  part  of  the  letter, 
omitting  the  conventional  introduction. 

that  thou  nxayest  recover  :  strictly, '  and  thou  shalt  recover.' 
The  peremptory  tone  is  that  of  the  suzerain  to  his  vassal. 
*i.  Cf.  I  Kings  XX.  7. 

seeketh  a  quarrel :  '  an  opportunity,'  i.  e.  a  casus  belli.  The 
king  can  only  interpret  the  extraordinary  message  as  a  pretext 
for  the  renewal  of  hostilities. 

9.  Elisha  is  obviously  regarded  as  residing  in  Samaria  (verses), 
and  in  his  own  private  house,  not  in  the  society  of  the  sons  of  the 
prophets  (iv.  38). 

10.  As  with  the  Shunammite  (iv.  laff.),  so  with  this  distinguished 
foreigner,  Elisha  communicates  through  a  third  party ;  and  Naaman 
resents  the  indignity. 


II    KINGS  5.  12-16.     Es  299 

hand  over  the  place,  and  recover  the  leper.     Are  not  12 
Abanah  and  Pharpar,  the  rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than 
all  the  waters  of  Israel  ?  may  1  not  wash  in  them,  and  be 
clean?     So  he  turned  and  went  away  in  a  rage.     And  13 
his  servants  came  near,  and  spake  unto  him,  and  said, 
My  father,  if  the  prophet  had  bid  thee  do  some  great 
thing,  wouldest  thou  not  have  done  it  ?  how  much  rather 
then,  when  he  saith  to  thee.  Wash,  and  be  clean  ?     Then  14 
went  he  down,  and  dipped  Aimse// stven  times  in  Jordan, 
according  to  the  saying  of  the  man  of  God  :   and  his 
flesh  came  again  like  unto  the  flesh  of  a  little  child,  and 
he  was  clean.     And  he  returned  to  the  man  of  God,  he  15 
and  all  his  company,  and  came,  and  stood  before  him : 
and  he  said.  Behold  now,  I  know  that  there  is  no  God 
in  all  the  earth,  but  in  Israel :  now  therefore,  I  pray  thee, 
take  a  present  of  thy  servant.     But  he  said,  As  the  Lord  16 


12.  the  rivers  of  Damascus.  The  region  of  Damascus  is  still 
watered  by  two  main  streams :  the  larger  is  the  Nahr  Baradd, 
rising  in  Anti-Libanus  and  flowing  eastward  through  the  city, 
and  the  smaller  the  Nahr  el-A'waj,  running  nearly  parallel,  some 
miles  to  the  south.  Both  lose  themselves  in  marshes  east  of  the 
city.  The  first  is  identified  with  Abana  (pronounced  by  the 
Massoretes  Amaim),  and  the  second  with  Pharpar.  The  latter 
name  seems  still  to  be  preserved  in  IVadi  Barbar,  whose  waters 
do  not  now  join  the  A'waj,  and  which  is  too  small  to  be  mentioned 
by  itself  as  the  second  great  river  of  Damascus. 

13i  The  solicitude  of  the  servants  for  their  master's  welfare  is 
creditable  to  both  ;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  the  address  Bfiy  father  can 
have  been  the  real  text.  It  seems  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  word 
for  '  if,'  which  is  otherwise  not  expressed  in  the  original,  and  is 
indispensable.  LXX  (L)  has  both  words  ;  LXX  (B)  has  neither, 
thus  turning  the  hypothetical  into  an  absolute  sentence  which 
makes  nonsense. 

15.  that  there  is  no  God  .  . . :  cf.  Isa.  xlv.  14.  The  monotheistic 
confession  in  the  mouth  of  a  heathen  of  that  age  is  surprising, 
especially  in  view  of  the  narrower  conception  implied  in  verse  17. 

'Blessing,'  used  in  the  sense  of  'present,*  as  Judges  i.  15: 
I  Sam.  XXX.  26. 


300  II    KINGS  5.  17-20.     Es 

liveth,  before  whom  I  stand,  I  will  receive  none.     And 

1 7  he  urged  him  to  take  it ;  but  he  refused.  And  Naaman 
said,  If  not,  yet  I  pray  thee  let  there  be  given  to  thy 
servant  two  mules'  burden  of  earth ;  for  thy  servant  will 
henceforth  offer  neither  burnt  offering  nor  sacrifice  unto 

18  other  gods,  but  unto  the  Lord.  In  this  thing  the  Lord 
pardon  thy  servant;  when  my  master  goeth  into  the 
house  of  Rimmon  to  worship  there,  and  he  leaneth  on 
my  hand,  and  I  bow  myself  in  the  house  of  Rimmon, 
when  I  bow  myself  in  the  house  of  Rimmon,  the  Lord 

19  pardon  thy  servant  in  this  thing.  And  he  said  unto  him, 
Go  in  peace.     So  he  departed  from  him  a  little  way. 

20  But  Gehazi,  the  servant  of  Elisha  the  man  of  God, 

16.  before  whom  I  stand  :  cf.  i  Kings  xvii.  i. 

17.  Though  Yahweh  has  revealed  Himself  to  the  conscience  of 
Naaman  as  the  only  genuine  God,  yet  He  can  properly  be  wor- 
shipped only  on  Israelitish  soil.  The  idea  was  universal  ;  and  so 
doubtless  was  this  particular  way  of  giving  effect  to  it. 

18.  Bixnmon,  or  Rammdn,  a  thunder-god  of  the  Assyrians,  is 
identified  with  Hadad  in  the  inscriptions,  with  the  interesting 
notice  that  the  latter  was  the  name  by  which  the  god  was  known 
in  the  West  (Zimmern,  in  KAT^,  p.  443). 

worship  and  "bow  myself  stand  for  the  same  Hebrew 
verb,  which  should  be  rendered  '  bow '  throughout.  Naaman 
means  that  he  will  render  to  Rimmon,  the  state  deity,  the  per- 
functory homage  which  his  position  demanded,  but  that  his  heart 
will  remain  loyal  to  Yahweh,  Such  a  case  of  conscience  would 
no  doubt  require  to  be  treated  differently  on  the  plane  of  Christian 
morality,  where  fidelity  to  one's  inmost  convictions  is  of  vital 
importance. 

19.  a  little  way:  lit.  'a.  region  of  land,'  as  Gen.  xxxv.  16, 
xlviii.  7.  The  exact  sense  is  unknown  :  some  take  it  to  mean  '  as 
far  as  one  can  see.'     (Cf.  Burney,  p.  281.) 

V.  20-27.  The  Curse  on  Gehazi.  The  sight  of  Naaman's  wealth 
had  excited  the  cupidity  of  Gehazi,  and  he  resolves  to  secure 
a  portion  of  it  for  hirtiself.  By  a  cleverly  concocted  story  he 
easily  moves  the  generous  Syrian  to  give  him  double  the  very  large 
sum  of  money  he  had  ventured  to  ask.  But  on  re-entering  his 
master's  presence  he  finds  that  even  his  secret  purposes  arc 
discerned,  and  that  no  evasion  can  screen  him  from  the  doom  he 


II   KINGS  5.  31-26.     Es  301 

said,  Behold,  my  master  hath  spared  this  Naaman  the 
Syrian,   in  not  receiving  at  his   hands   that   which   he 
brought :  as  the  Lord  liveth,  I  will  run  after  him,  and 
take  somewhat  of  him.     So  Gehazi  followed  after  Naa-  ai 
man.     And  when  Naaman  saw  one  running  after  him, 
he  lighted  down  from  the  chariot  to  meet  him,  and  said, 
Is  all  well  ?     And  he  said,  All  is  well.    My  master  hath  22 
sent  me,  saying.  Behold,  even  now  there  be  come  to  me 
from  the  hill  country  of  Ephraim  two  young  men  of  the 
sons  of  the  prophets ;  give  them,  I  pray  thee,  a  talent  of 
silver,  and  two  changes  of  raiment.     And  Naaman  said,  23 
Be  content,  take  two  talents.     And  he  urged  him,  and 
bound  two  talents  of  silver  in  two  bags,  with  two  changes 
of  raiment,  and  laid  them  upon  two  of  his  servants ;  and 
they  bare  them  before  him.     And  when  he  came  to  the  24 
hill,  he  took  them  from  their  hand,  and  bestowed  them 
in  the  house  :  and  he  let  the  men  go,  and  they  departed. 
But  he  went   in,  and   stood  before  his  master.     And  25 
Elisha  said  unto  him.  Whence  comest  thou,  Gehazi? 
And  he  said,  Thy  servant  went  no  whither.     And  he  26 
said  unto  him.  Went  not  mine  heart  with  thee,  when  the 
man  turned  again  from  his  chariot  to  meet  thee  ?     Is^it 

has  deserved.  Under  the  prophet's  withering  rebuke  the  leprosy 
which  is  to  cleave  to  his  seed  for  ever  breaks  out  upon  him. 

21.  So  great  is  the  honour  due  to  a  prophet  that  even  before 
his  servant  Naaman  must  ligflit  down  from  his  chariot. 

For  one,  read  '  him  '  (LXX). 

23.  two  of  Ms  servants:  or,  *his  (Gehazi's)  two  servants.' 
Gehazi  had  apparently  taken  two  men  with  him  ;  possibly  he  had 
represented  them  as  the  two  young  men  for  whom  he  begged 
(Benzinger). 

24.  the  hill,  or  'mound' ;  Heb.  'Ophel,  a  name  applied  else- 
where in  O.  T.  only  to  the  south-east  spur  of  the  temple  mount 
at  Jerusalem.     (But  cf.  Moabite  Stone,  1.  22.) 

26.  when  the  man:  better,  '  when  some  one.' 

Is  it  a  time  ?    If  the  text  were  correct  the  sense  would  be 


302  II    KINGS  5.  27-6.  r,.     Es 

a  time  to  receive  money,  and  to  receive  garments,  and 
oliveyards  and  vineyards,  and  sheep  and  oxen,  and  men- 

27  servants  and  maidservants?  The  leprosy  therefore  of 
Naaman  shall  cleave  unto  thee,  and  unto  thy  seed  for 
ever.  And  he  went  out  from  his  presence  a  leper  as 
white  as  snow. 

6  And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  said  unto  Elisha,  Behold 
now,  the  place  where  we  dwell  before  thee  is  too  strait 

2  for  us.  Let  us  go,  we  pray  thee,  unto  Jordan,  and  take 
thence  every  man  a  beam,  and  let  us  make  us  a  place 
there,  where  we  may  dwell.     And  he  answered,  Go  ye. 

3  And  one  said.  Be  content,  I  pray  thee,  and  go  with  thy 

4  servants.  And  he  answered,  I  will  go.  So  he  went  with 
them.     And  when  they  came  to  Jordan,  they  cut  down 

5  wood.  But  as  one  was  felling  a  beam,  the  axe-head  fell 
into  the  water  :  and  he  cried,  and  said,  Alas,  my  master  ! 

6  for  it  was  borrowed.     And  the  man  of  God  said.  Where 

that  a  time  of  national  distress  and  mourning  was  no  fit  time  for 
amassing  the  means  of  private  luxury.  But  the  LXX,  by  a  very 
small  change,  yields  an  easier  and  better  reading  :  '  And  now  thou 
hast  received  the  money,  and  thou  shalt  receive  garments  .  .  . 
(27)  and  the  leprosy  of  Naaman,'  &c.  ;  as  if  with  the  gift  he  had 
received  the  leprosy  of  the  giver. 

vi.  1-7.  The  Axe-head  made  to  swim.  The  company  of  prophets 
(at  Gilgal  V)  had  so  increased  in  numbers  that  they  found  it 
necessary  to  establish  a  new  settlement  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan. 
As  they  were  felling  wood  for  this  purpose  one  of  them  lost  the 
head  of  an  axe  (which  he  had  borrowed)  in  the  river.  Elisha,  on 
being  appealed  to,  threw  a  stick  into  the  water,  when  the  iron 
floated  to  the  surface.  The  conception  of  the  life  of  a  prophetic 
community  is  similar  to  that  of  iv.  38-41,  42-44.  The  prophets  live 
together ;  Elisha  lives  amongst  them  and  orders  all  their  common 
affairs  ;  and  so  closely  paternal  is  his  relation  to  them  that  they 
cannot  bear  to  be  separated  from  him,  even  while  engaged  in  the 
most  mundane  employment. 

2.  The  Jordan  valley  is  chosen  as  the  site  of  the  new  settlement, 
probably  because  of  the  abundant  supply  of  building  timber  which 
could  there  be  found. 


II    KINGS  6.  7-12.     Es  303 

fell  it  ?     And  he  shewed  him  the  place.     And  he  cut 
down  a  stick,  and  cast  it  in  thither,  and  made  the  iron  to 
swim.     And  he  said,  Take  it  up  to  thee.     So  he  put  out   7 
his  hand,  and  took  it. 

Now  the  king  of  Syria  warred  against  Israel ;  and  he   8 
took  counsel  with  his  servants,  saying.  In  such  and  such 
a  place  shall  be  my  camp.     And  the  man  of  God  sent  9 
unto  the  king  of  Israel,  saying.  Beware  that  thou  pass  not 
such  a  place ;  for  thither  the  Syrians  are  coming  down. 
And  the  king  of  Israel  sent  to  the  place  which  the  man  10 
of  God  told  him  and  warned  him  of;  and  he  saved  him- 
self there,  not  once  nor  twice.     And  the  heart  of  the  u 
king  of  Syria  was  sore  troubled  for  this  thing;  and  he 
called  his  servants,  and  said  unto  them.  Will  ye  not  shew 
me  which  of  us  is  for  the  king  of  Israel  ?    And  one  of  his  12 


6.  It  is  surprising  to  find  Ewald  rationalizing  the  incident  by  the 
comment  that  '  he  threw  on  to  the  spot  where  it  had  sunk  a  piece 
of  wood  cut  to  fit  it,  which  caught  it  up '  ! 

vi.  8-23.  The  Syrians  entrapped.  In  an  irregular  campaign 
against  Israel  the  king  of  Syria  finds  his  confidential  plans  so  often 
anticipated  by  the  enemy  that  he  is  led  to  suspect  treachery 
amongst  his  own  officers.  He  learns,  however,  that  his  real 
antagonist  is  Elisha,  whose  supernatural  knowledge  was  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  king  of  Israel.  On  discovering  that  the 
prophet  was  in  Dothan  he  sends  a  large  force  to  surround  the  city 
by  night  and  take  him  prisoner ;  knowing  nothing  of  the  greater 
host,  invisible  to  mortal  eyes — horses  and  chariots  of  fire — that 
protected  Elisha.  In  the  morning  the  Syrians  are  struck  blind  at 
Elisha's  prayer,  and  are  led  by  him  into  the  heart  of  Samaria, 
where  their  eyes  are  opened.  The  prophet  directs  the  king  to 
provide  them  with  bread  and  water :  as  a  consequence,  the . 
marauding  expeditions  of  the  Syrians  against  Israel  are  dis- 
continued. 

8.  shall  toe  my  camp,  or  (changing  the  text)  '  let  us  set  an 
ambush.' 

9.  coming'  down :  a  very  unusual  (Aramaic)  form  :  it  should 
probably  be  altered  to  *  concealed.' 

11.  wMcli  of  us  is  for.    LXX  reads. '  who  has  betrayed  me  to.' 


304  II    KINGS  6.  13-19.     Es 

servants  said,  Nay,  my  lord,  O  king :  but  Elisha,  the 
prophet  that  is  in  Israel,  telleth  the  king  of  Israel  the 

13  words  that  thou  speakest  in  thy  bedchamber.  And  he 
said,  Go  and  see  where  he  is,  that  I  may  send  and  fetch 
him.     And  it  was  told  him,  saying,   Behold,   he  is  in 

14  Dothan.  Therefore  sent  he  thither  horses,  and  chariots, 
and  a  great  host :   and  they  came  by  night,  and  com- 

rs  passed  the  city  about.  And  when  the  servant  of  the  man 
of  God  was  risen  early,  and  gone  forth,  behold,  an  host 
with  horses  and  chariots  was  round  about  the  city.  And 
his  servant  said  unto  him,  Alas,  my  master  !  how  shall 

16  we  do?    And  he  answered,  Fear  not:  for  they  that  be 

17  with  us  are  more  than  they  that  be  with  them.  And 
Elisha  prayed,  and  said.  Lord,  I  pray  thee,  open  his 
eyes,  that  he  may  see.  And  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  young  man ;  and  he  saw  :  and,  behold,  the  moun- 
tain was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about 

18  Elisha.  And  when  they  came  down  to  him,  Elisha 
prayed  unto  the  Lord,  and  said.  Smite  this  people, 
I  pray  thee,  with  blindness.     And  he  smote  them  with 

19  blindness  according  to  the  word  of  Elisha.  And  Elisha 
said  unto  them,  This  is  not  the  way,  neither  is  this  the 

Possibly  the  original  text  combined  both  words  :  '  which  of  us  is 
betraying  me  to  '  the  king  of  Israel  ?    (Kittel). 

13.  Dothan  (Tell  Dothan)  was  ten  miles  north  of  Samaria,  in 
a  small  plain  through  which  passed  the  great  caravan-road  from 
Damascus  to  Egypt.     (Cf.  Gen.  xxxvii,  17.) 

15.  The  Hebrew  shows  signs  of  confusion  in  the  beginning  of 
the  verse.  The  original  text  must  have  read  somewhat  after 
Klostermann's  ingenious  emendation  (partly  supported  by  LXX 
(L))  :  *  And  he  [Elisha]  rose  early  the  following  day  in  the 
morning  and  went  out,'  &c.  The  servant  is  only  introduced  in 
the  next  sentence. 

17.  the  young  man:   'the  servant,'  as  in  verse  15. 
horses  and  chariots  of  fire.    See  on  ii.  11. 

18.  they  came  down :  i.  e.  from  the  hills  surrounding  the 
plain. 


II    KINGS  6.  20-24.     Es  N  305 

city :  follow  me,  and  I  will  bring  you  to  the  man  whom 
ye  seek.     And  he  led  them  to  Samaria.     And  it  came  to  20 
pass,  when  they  were  come  into  Samaria,  that  Elisha  said, 
Lord,  open  the  eyes  of  these  men,  that  they  may  see. 
And  the  Lord  opened  their  eyes,  and  they  saw ;  and, 
behold,  they  were  in  the  midst  of  Samaria.     And  the  21 
king  of  Israel  said  unto  Elisha,  when  he  saw  them.  My 
father,  shall  I  smite  them  ?     shall  I  smite  them  ?     And  he  22 
answered.  Thou   shalt  not  smite  them :  wouldest  thou 
smite  those  whom  thou  hast  taken  captive  with  thy  sword 
and  with  thy  bow?   set  bread  and  water  before  them, 
that  they  may  eat  and  drink,  and  go  to  their  master. 
And  he  prepared  great  provision  for  them  :  and  when  23 
they  had  eaten  and  drunk,  he  sent  them  away,  and  they 
went  to  their  master.     And  the  bands  of  Syria  came  no 
more  into  the  land  of  Israel. 

[N]  And  it  came  to  pass  after  this,  that  Ben-hadad  24 

21.  My  father  :  cf.  xiii.  14.  The  title  shows  that  friendly 
relations  existed  between  the  prophet  and  this  (unnamed)  king  of 
Israel. 

22.  whom  thou  hast  taken.  LXX  (L)  inserts  a  *  not'  before 
the  verb,  which  is  doubtless  the  correct  reading.  The  Hebrew 
text  is  intelligible  only  on  the  assumption  that  it  was  not  the 
Hebrew  custom  to  slay  prisoners  of  war,  an  assumption  negatived 
by  the  king's  impulse  to  fall  on  these  defenceless  men. 

23.  prepared  great  provision,  or,  *  made  a  great  feast.*  But 
the  terms  occur  nowhere  else,  and  the  text  is  uncertain. 

vi.  24 — vii.  20.  Elisha  during  the  Siege. 
This  section  occupies  an  ambiguous  and  disputed  position  among 
the  Elisha-narratives,  closely  analogous  to  that  of  iii.  4  ff.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  prophet  is  so  obviously  the  central  personage  of  the 
story  that  it  might  be  supposed  to  have  been  written  as  a  chapter  - 
of  his  biography.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  political  background 
is  so  much  more  definite  than  in  any  other  of  the  Elisha-stories  as 
to  raise  the  question  whether  the  passage  should  not  rather  be 
assigned  to  a  document  of  the  same  character  as  i  Kings  xx,  xxii. 
The  latter  view  is  maintained  by  Wellhausen  (followed  by  Driver, 

X 


3o6  II    KINGS   6.  25.     N 

king  of  Syria  gathered  all  his  host,  and  Avent  up,  and 

25  besieged  Samaria.      And  there  was  a  great  famine  in 

Samaria  :  and,  behold,  they  besieged  it,  until  an  ass's 

head  was  sold  for  fourscore  pieces  of  silver,  and  the  fourth 


&c.),  who  points  out  some  strong  resemblances  to  the  style  of 
chaps.  XX,  xxii  (vi.  24,  vii.  9,  12  :  namelessness  of  the  king,  &c.). 
Others,  again,  explain  these  as  due  to  imitation  of  the  older  docu- 
ment, and  think  that  we  have  here  to  do  with  an  Elisha-narrative 
pure  and  simple  (Benzinger,  Kittel ;  also  Kuenen).  Possibly,  as 
in  the  case  of  ch.  iii,  a  more  complex  hypothesis  may  be  necessary  : 
a  chapter  of  a  political  history  may  have  been  utilized  as  the 
basis  of  a  prophetic  biography  (see  above,  p.  282  f.). 

Whether  the  siege  occurred  in  the  time  of  Jehoram  or  under 
the  reign  of  some  later  king  can  hardly  be  determined.  It  has 
been  already  pointed  out  (p.  290)  that  the  position  of  the  section 
affords  no  presumption  that  Jehoram  is  the  king  referred  to  ;  and 
the  Ben-hadad  of  vi.  24  need  not  be  the  contemporary  of  Ahab, 
but  may  be  the  son  of  Hazael  who  is  said  to  have  oppressed  Israel 
'continually'  in  the  days  of  Jehoahaz  the  son  of  Jehu  (xiii.  3). 
Kuenen's  conjecture  that  the  king  is  Jehoahaz  is  plausible  enough 
on  the  general  ground  that  in  that  reign  Israel  appears  to  have 
touched  the  lowest  depth  of  humiliation  under  the  Syrians  ;  but 
the  specific  arguments  adduced  in  favour  of  that  opinion  break 
down  under  close  examination  (see  the  notes  on  vi.  31,  32). 

vi.  24-31.  On  the  Wall  of  Samaria.  It  was  apparently  during 
the  great  famine  (viii.  i)  that  the  Syrians  invaded  Israel  and  laid 
siege  to  Samaria.  The  horrible  plight  to  which  the  inhabitants 
were  reduced  is  indicated  by  the  price  at  which  the  meanest 
articles  of  diet  were  sold,  and  vividly  illustrated  by  the  case  of 
two  poor  women  who  had  agreed  together  to  kill  their  children 
for  food.  Horrified  by  this  revelation  of  \vretchedness,  the  king 
swears  that  he  will  take  the  life  of  Elisha  the  prophet,  whom  for 
some  unexplained  reason  he  holds  responsible  for  these  intolerable 
sufferings. 

24.  The  phraseology  of  the  verse  is  modelled  on  that  of 
I  Kings  XX,  T. 

after  this  cannot  refer  to  the  immediately  preceding  narrative 
(see  verse  23) ;  the  passage  must  have  stood  originally  in  a 
different  connexion. 

Bsn-hadad.     See  on  i  Kings  xx.  i,  2  Kings  xiii.  3. 

25.  an  ass's  head:  a  worthless  part  of  an  animal  whose  flesh 
was  ordinarily  not  eaten  at  all  sold  for  eighty  silver  shekels  (but 
LXX  reads  fifty  shekels). 


II   KINGS  6.  26-30.     N  307 

part  of  a  kab  of  dove's  dung  for  five  pieces  of  silver. 
And  as  the  king  of  Israel  was  passing  by  upon  the  wall,  26 
there  cried  a  woman  unto  him,  saying.  Help,  my  lord,  O 
king.     And  he   said,   If  the  Lord  do  not  help  thee,  27 
whence  shall  I  help  thee  ?  out  of  the  threshing-floor,  or 
out  of  the  winepress  ?    And  the  king  said  unto  her,  What  28 
aileth  thee  ?     And  she  answered,  This  woman  said  unto 
me,  Give  thy  son,  that  we  may  eat  him  to-day,  and  we 
will  eat  my  son  to-morrow.     So  we  boiled  my  son,  and  29 
did  eat  him  :  and  I  said  unto  her  on  the  next  day,  Give 
thy  son,  that  we  may  eat  him  :  and  she  hath  hid  her  son. 
And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king  heard  the  words  of  30 
the  woman,  that  he  rent  his  clothes ;  (now  he  was  passing 
by  upon  the  wall ;)  and  the  people  looked,  and,  behold, 


dove's  dung"  is  the  literal  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  phrase, 
which  is  supported  by  all  the  versions,  though  in  the  synagogue 
reading  a  less  offensive  term  was  substituted.  Some  scholars 
have  tried  hard  to  find  an  edible  plant  which  might  be  called  by 
this  name  ;  others  have  recourse  to  emendation  of  the  text.  The 
most  felicitous  conjecture  is  perhaps  that  of  Cheyne,  carob-pods^, 
which  he  describes  as  '  a  poor  but  not  innutritious  substitute '  for 
bread. 

The  kab,  a  measure  of  capacity  not  elsewhere  mentioned  in  the 
O.  T.,  is  known  from  later  authorities  to  have  been  one-eighteenth 
of  an  ephah.     The  fourth  part  of  a  kab  would  be  less  than  a  pint. 

27.  If  the  LORD.  The  marginal  rendering  is  perhaps  prefer- 
able :  '  Nay,  let  Yahweh  help  thee  ! ' 

out  of  the  threshing-floor  .  .  .? — bitter  irony. 

28.  The  woman  represents  the  evil  suggestion  as  having  come 
from  the  neighbour  who  had  afterwards  played  her  false  by 
concealing  her  own  child. 

30.  Realizing  the  full  horror  of  the  tale,  the  king  rent  his 
clothes,  revealing  to  the  spectators  the  sackcloth,  the  garb  of 
mourning,  worn  in  secret  beneath  his  robes.  There  is  in  this 
graphic  touch  an  unmistakable  sympathy  and  admiration  on  the 
part  of  the  writer  towards  the  king.  For  passing  by,  it  is  better 
to  read  with  LXX  '^L)  '  standing.' 


X    2 


3o8  II    KINGS  6.  31-33.     N 

31  he  had  sackcloth  within  upon  his  flesh.  Then  he  said, 
God  do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  the  head  of  Elisha 

32  the  son  of  Shaphat  shall  stand  on  him  this  day.  But 
Elisha  sat  in  his  house,  and  the  elders  sat  with  him ;  and 
the  king  sent  a  man  from  before  him:  but  ere  the 
messenger  came  to  him,  he  said  to  the  elders.  See  ye 
how  this  son  of  a  murderer  hath  sent  to  take  away  mine 
head  ?  look,  when  the  messenger  cometh,  shut  the  door, 
and  hold  the  door  fast  against  him  :  is  not  the  sound  of 

33  his  master's  feet  behind  him  ?    And  while  he  yet  talked 

31.  Elisha  was  in  some  sense  the  author  of  the  calamities  that 
had  befallen  the  city.  The  most  natural  explanation  would  be 
that  the  prophet  had  inspired  the  heroic  resistance  which  king 
and  people  had  offered  to  the  enemy.  Benzinger's  objection  — 
that  if  that  were  all  the  king  had  the  remedy  in  his  own  hands, 
and  could  at  any  moment  surrender  to  the  Syrians — seems  to  miss 
the  point.  Verse  33  suggests  the  answer :  the  king  blamed 
Elisha  for  holding  out  delusive  hopes  of  deliverance  by  Yahweh's 
might,  and  his  sudden  threat  of  vengeance  on  the  prophet  may 
have  been  due  to  exasperation  at  the  failure  of  these  promises. 
The  verse,  therefore,  gives  no  real  support  to  the  opinion  that 
behind  the  siege  there  was  a  drought,  which  Elisha  had  brought 
on  the  land  as  a  punishment  for  its  idolatries. 

vi.  32— vii.  2.  In  the  House  of  Elisha.  Meanwhile  Elisha  is 
seated  in  his  house  with  the  elders  of  the  city,  when  he  receives 
a  supernatural  intimation  of  the  king's  intention  to  kill  him.  He 
has  barely  time  to  warn  the  elders  of  the  approach  of  the  messenger, 
when  the  king  himself  enters,  and  passionately  renounces  his  faith 
in  the  word  of  Yahweh.  Elisha  replies  calmly  with  a  prediction 
of  abundant  food  at  the  gate  of  Samaria  on  the  following  day  :  and 
he  adds  an  ominous  warning  to  an  incredulous  courtier,  who  had 
laughed  his  prophecy  to  scorn. 

32.  the  elders  sat  with  him:  cf.  Ezek.  viii.  i,  xx.  i;  the 
object  of  the  visit  being  to  *  inquire  of  the  Lord  '  through  him. 

32**,  33  give  a  somewhat  confused  account  of  the  proceedings. 
Since  the  speaker  in  the  end  of  verse  33  is  certainly  the  king,  it 
seems  necessary  to  suppose  that  in  that  verse  at  least  the  word 
maVdk  ( =  '  messenger ')  is  a  mistake  for  melek  ('  king ').  But  then 
\ve  observe  that  Elisha  is  still  speaking  with  the  elders  when  the 
king  appears,  and  there  is  no  hint  of  their  conference  having  been 
interrupted  by  the  arrival  of  any  messenger.     The  'messenger,' 


II    KINGS  7.  r,  2.     N  309 

with  them,  behold,  the  messenger  came  down  unto  him : 
and  he  said,  Behold,  this  evil  is  of  the  Lord  ;  why 
should  I  wait  for  the  Lord  any  longer  ?  And  Elisha  said,  7 
Hear  ye  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  thus  saith  the  Lord, 
To-morrow  about  this  time  shall  a  measure  of  fine  flour 
be  sold  for  a  shekel,  and  two  measures  of  barley  for 
a  shekel,  in  the  gate  of  Samaria.  Then  the  captain  on  a 
>vhose  hand  the  king  leaned  answered  the  man  of  God, 
and  said,  Behold,  if  the  Lord  should  make  windows  in 
heaven,  might  this  thing  be?  And  he  said,  Behold,  thou 
shalt  see  it  with  thine  eyes,  but  shalt  not  eat  thereof. 


in  fact,  is  a  quite  superfluous  personage ;  and  Wellhausen  is 
probably  right  in  thinking  that  the  whole  of  the  clauses  relating 
to  him  are  embellishments  interpolated  by  a  scribe  who  understood 
the  verb  'sent'  much  too  literally  (it  can  be  used  in  the  sense  of 
'give  directions,'  see  i  Kings  v.  9).  The  simplified  text  would 
read  :  '  And  before  the  king  came  to  him,  he  had  said  to  the 
elders,  See  ye  that  this  son  of  a  murderer  has  given  orders  to  cut 
off  my  head  ?  While  he  was  yet  talking  with  them,  the  king  came 
down  to  him,  and  said,'  &c.  It  is  less  probable,  though  possible, 
that  the  text  errs  by  defect,  a  description  of  the  arrival  of  the 
messenger  having  been  omitted  between  verses  32  and  33. 

The  expression  son  of  a  murderer  means  no  more  than 
*  murderer '  ;  and  implies  no  real  reflection  on  the  father  of  the 
person  spoken  of.  It  is  therefore  idle  to  discuss  whether  it  be 
more  applicable  to  a  son  of  Ahab  or  a  son  of  Jehu.  The  prophet 
has  nothing  in  his  mind  beyond  the  murderous  design  which  he  is 
unmasking. 

33.  Behold,  this  evil  .  .  . :  cf.  Amos  iii.  6,  '  Shall  there  be 
evil  in  a  city,  and  Yahweh  hath  not  done  it  ?  * 

why  should  I  wait?  The  words  express  despondency 
rather  than  vindictiveness  ;  the  king  is  overawed  in  the  presence 
of  the  prophet,  and  lacks  the  courage  to  carry  out  his  threat. 

vii.  1.  A  'seah'  (marg.)  is  the  third  part  of  an  ephah,  or  about 
one  and  a  half  pecks.  Reliable  data  as  to  the  ordinary  price  of 
grain  in  ancient  Israel  cannot  be  found  ;  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  prices  specified  are  still  abnormally  high. 

2.  the  captain:  or  'adjutant'  {shaltsh,  see  on  i  Kings  ix.  22^. 
on  whose  hand:  cf.  the  case  of  Naaman,  v.  18. 
windows  in  heaven:  cf  Gen.  vii.  11,  viii.  2  ;  Mai.  iii.  10. 


3IO  II    KINGS  7.  3-6.     N 

3  Now  there  were  four  leprous  men  at  the  entering  in  of 
the  gate :  and  they  said  one  to  another,  Why  sit  we  here 

4  until  we  die  ?  If  we  say,  We  will  enter  into  the  city,  then 
the  famine  is  in  the  city,  and  we  shall  die  there :  and  if 
we  sit  still  here,  we  die  also.  Now  therefore  come,  and 
let  us  fall  unto  the  host  of  the  Syrians  :  if  they  save  us 
alive,  we  shall  live ;  and  if  they  kill  us,  we  shall  but  die. 

5  And  they  rose  up  in  the  twilight,  to  go  unto  the  camp  of 
the  Syrians  :  and  when  they  were  come  to  the  outermost 
part  of  the  camp  of  the  Syrians,  behold,  there  was  no 

6  man  there.  For  the  Lord  had  made  the  host  of  the 
Syrians  to  hear  a  noise  of  chariots,  and  a  noise  of  horses, 
even  the  noise  of  a  great  host :  and  they  said  one  to 
another,  Lo,  the  king  of  Israel  hath  hired  against  us  the 
kings  of  the  Hittites,  and  the  kings  of  the  Egyptians,  to 

vii.  3-20.  Outside  the  Gate.  On  that  very  evening  four  starving 
lepers  from  the  gate  went  into  the  enemy's  camp  to  surrender 
themselves  and  found  it  utterly  deserted.  Deceived  by  some 
mysterious  sound  in  the  air  the  Syrians  had  taken  to  sudden 
flight,  thinking  that  a  mighty  host  was  advancing  from  the  north 
to  the  relief  of  the  city.  The  king,  on  hearing  the  report  of  the 
lepers,  at  first  suspected  a  stratagem,  and  sent  out  couriers  to 
follow  the  track  of  the  fugitives.  When  all  anxiety  had  been 
dispelled,  the  people  rushed  out  and  plundered  the  deserted  camp. 
Thus  on  the  next  day  Elisha's  prophecy  was  literally  fulfilled  ; 
and  the  incredulous  officer  who  had  scoffed  at  his  words  was 
trampled  to  death  in  the  gate,  in  sight  of  the  plenty  he  was  not 
to  share. 

5.  in  the  twilig-ht :  when  their  movements  could  not  be 
observed  from  the  city. 

6.  the  kings  of  the  Hittites,  and  the  kingrs  of  the  Egyptians. 
For  '  the  Egyptians '  we  should  probably  read  Mttzn  (i.  e. 
Cappadocia),  as  in  i  Kings  x.  28.  The  centre  of  the  Hittite  power 
was  in  Northern  Syria,  between  the  Euphrates  and  the  Orontes ; 
and  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose  that  another  northern  power 
should  be  named  along  with  them.  That  this  Northern  Muzri  was 
politically  in  touch  with  Israel  and  Syria  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  a  king  of  that  land  fought  as  an  ally  of  Ahab  and  Ben-hadad 
at  the  battle  of  Karkar  in  854  {KAT\  p.  42  ;  COT,  p.  196).  The 
improbability  of  a  "combination  of  Hittites  and  Egyptians  for  the 


II    KINGS  7.  7-12.     N  311 

come  upon  us.     Wherefore  they  arose  and  fled  in  the   7 
twih'ght,  and  left  their  tents,  and  their  horses,  and  their 
asses,  even  the  camp  as  it  was,  and  fled  for  their  hfe. 
And  when  these  lepers  came  to  the  outermost  part  of  8 
the  camp,  they  went  into  one  tent,  and  did  eat  and 
drink,  and  carried  thence  silver,  and  gold,  and  raiment, 
and  went  and  hid  it ;  and  they  came  back,  and  entered 
into  another  tent,  and  carried  thence  also,  and  went  and 
hid  it.     Then  they  said  one  to  another.  We  do  not  well :   9 
this  day  is  a  day  of  good  tidings,  and  we  hold  our  peace  : 
if  we  tarry  till  the  morning  light,  punishment  will  overtake 
us :  now  therefore  come,  let  us  go  and  tell  the  king's 
household.     So  they  came  and  called  unto  the  porter  of  10 
the  city :  and  they  told  them,  saying.  We  came  to  the 
camp  of  the  Syrians,  and,   behold,   there  was  no  man 
there,  neither  voice  of  man,  but  the  horses  tied,  and  the 
asses  tied,  and  the  tents  as  they  were.     And  he  called  ir 
the  porters;   and  they  told  it  to  the  king's  household 
within.     And  the  king  arose  in  the  night,  and  said  unto  12 
his  servants,  I  will  now  shew  you  what  the  Syrians  have 
done  to  us.     They  know  that  we  be  hungry ;  therefore 
are  they  gone  out  of  the  camp  to  hide  themselves  in  the 

relief  of  Samaria  has  long  been  felt ;  and  it  was  too  rashly 
concluded  by  several  scholars  that  the  notice  revealed  the  ignorance 
of  the  narrator,  the  only  possible  enemy  in  the  background  being 
the  Assyrians.  But  a  confusion  between  Assyria  and  Egypt  is 
inconceivable  on  the  part  of  any  Hebrew  writer  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  coalition  of  Muzri  and  Hittites  against  Damascus 
is  well  within  the  bounds  of'  historical  probabilit}'.  It  may  be 
doubted,  however,  if  it  would  be  likely  to  occur  so  late  as  the 
reign  of  Jehoahaz. 

9.  and  we  hold  our  peace :  as  i  Kings  xxii.  3. 
punishment  will  overtake  us :  or,   '  guilt  will  be  incurred 

byus'(Vulg.). 

10.  Read  'porters'  (pi.),  as  marg.  (see  verse  11). 

11.  The  porters  are,  of  course,  the  keepers  of  the  aVy  gate ; 
hence  the  rendering  of  marg.  is  obviously  right. 


312  II    KINGS  7.  13-T7.     N 

field,  saying,  When  they  come  out  of  the  city,  we  shall 

13  take  them  alive,  and  get  into  the  city.  And  one  of  his 
servants  answered  and  said,  Let  some  take,  I  pray  thee, 
five  of  the  horses  that  remain,  which  are  left  in  the  city, 
(behold,  they  are  as  all  the  multitude  of  Israel  that  are 
left  in  it ;  behold,  they  are  as  all  the  multitude  of  Israel 

14  that  are  consumed :)  and  let  us  send  and  see.  They 
took  therefore  two  chariots  with  horses;  and  the  king 
sent  after  the  host  of  the  Syrians,  saying,  Go  and  see. 

15  And  they  went  after  them  unto  Jordan  :  and,  lo,  all  the 
way  was  full  of  garments  and  vessels,  which  the  Syrians 
had   cast   away   in   their   haste.     And    the   messengers 

16  returned,  and  told  the  king.  And  the  people  went  out, 
and  spoiled  the  camp  of  the  Syrians.  So  a  measure  of 
fine  flour  was  sold  for  a  shekel,  and  two  measures  of 
barley  for  a  shekel,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord. 

17  And  the  king  appointed  the  captain  on  whose  hand  he 
leaned  to  have  the  charge  of  the  gate :  and  the  people 
trode  upon  him  in  the  gate,  and  he  died  as  the  man  of 
God  had  said,  who  spake  when  the  king  came  down  to 


12.  take  them  alive :  cf.  i  Kings  xx.  18. 

13.  five  is  a  round  number  (i  Sam.  xxi.  3).  The  confused 
text  in  the  latter  part  of  the  verse  has  arisen  partly  from  glosses 
and  partly  from  duplication  (the  latter  is  avoided  by  the  LXX). 
The  clause  wMcli  are  left  in  the  city  must  be  omitted  as 
tautological  ;  and  the  parenthetic  sentence  must  have  read 
originally  :  '  (behold,  they  are  as  all  the  multitude  that  are  con- 
sumed) ' ;  i.  e.  the  few  remaining  horses  are  rapidly  going  the  waj' 
of  all  the  rest,  which  have  perished  in  the  famine. 

15.  vessels:  or  'weapons.' 

16.  This  decisive  proof  of  the  precipitate  flight  of  the  besiegers 
allayed  the  fears  of  the  king  ;  and  the  people  were  permitted  to 
plunder  the  camp  at  their  will. 

\*J  relates  how  terribly  the  doom  pronounced  by  Elisha  on  the 
flippant  courtier  was  fulfilled.  The  last  part  of  the  verse  should 
probabl3'  be  amended  so  as  to  read  :  '  according  to  the  word  of  the 
rann  of  God  which  he  spake,'  5rc, 


II    KINGS  7.  18—8.  2.     NEs  313 

him.     And  it  came  to  pass,  as  the  man  of  God  had  18 
spoken  to  the  king,  saying,  Two  measures  of  barley  for  a 
shekel,  and  a  measure  of  fine  flour  for  a  shekel,  shall  be 
to-morrow  about  this  time  in  the  gate  of  Samaria ;  and  19 
that  captain  answered  the  man  of  God,  and  said.  Now, 
behold,  if  the  Lord  should  make  windows  in  heaven, 
might  such  a  thing  be  ?  and  he  said.  Behold,  thou  shalt 
see  it  with  thine  eyes,  but  shalt  not  eat  thereof:  it  came  20 
to  pass  even  so  unto  him ;  for  the  people  trode  upon 
him  in  the  gate,  and  he  died. 

[Es]  Now  Elisha  had  spoken  unto  the  woman,  whose  8 
son  he  had  restored  to  life^  saying.  Arise,  and  go  thou 
and  thine  household,  and  sojourn  wheresoever  thou 
canst  sojourn :  for  the  Lord  hath  called  for  a  famine ; 
and  it  shall  also  come  upon  the  land  seven  years.  And  2 
the  woman  arose,  and  did  according  to  the  word  of  the 
man  of  God :  and  she  went  with  her  household,  and 
sojourned   in  the  land  of  the  Philistines   seven  years. 

18-20  are  merely  an  expansion  of  the  words  just  quoted,  and 
were  probably  appended  to  the  narrative  by  a  later  editor. 

viii.  1-15.  Eltsli a- Narratives  resumed. 
viii.  1-6.  The  Shunammite  in  Distress.  The  great  lady  who  had 
so  proudly  said  to  Elisha,  '  I  dwell  among  mine  own  people ' 
(iv.  13),  is  obliged  to  emigrate  to  escape  the  famine,  of  which  she 
had  been  forewarned  by  Elisha.  She  returns  after  seven  3'ears, 
to  find  that  her  property  has  been  unlawfully  appropriated  by 
others.  Her  petition  for  redress  comes  before  the  king  just  as 
Gehazi  is  recounting  to  him  the  marvellous  restoration  of  her  dead 
child  to  life  by  the  prophet.  She  is  at  once  recognized  b}' 
Gehazi  ;  whereupon  the  king  grants  her  prayer,  and  appoints  an 
official  to  look  after  her  interests. 

1.  sojonrn  wheresoever  . .  .  sojourn:  an  ^  idem  per  idem  idiom, 
often  employed  in  the  Semitic  languages '  (Driver,  Deuteronomy, 

P-  30- 

it  shall   also  come.     The    Hebrew   might   mean,    'and    it 
actuall}'  came.' 

2.  the  land  of  the  Philistines:  cf.  Gen.  xxvi.  i. 


314  n   KINGS  8,  3-7.     Es 

3  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  seven  years'  end,  that  the 
woman  returned  out  of  the  land  of  the  Phihstines :  and 
she  went  forth  to  cry  unto  the  king  for  her  house  and 

4  for  her  land.  Now  the  king  was  talking  with  Gehazi  the 
servant  of  the  man  of  God,  saying.  Tell  me,  I  pray  thee, 

5  all  the  great  things  that  Elisha  hath  done.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  as  he  was  telling  the  king  how  he  had  restored 
to  life  him  that  was  dead,  that,  behold,  the  woman, 
whose  son  he  had  restored  to  life,  cried  to  the  king  for 
her  house  and  for  her  land.  And  Gehazi  said,  My  lord, 
O  king,  this  is  the  woman,  and  this  is  her  son,  whom 

6  Elisha  restored  to  life.  And  when  the  king  asked  the 
woman,  she  told  him.  So  the  king  appointed  unto  her 
a  certain  officer,  saying,  Restore  all  that  was  hers,  and 
all  the  fruits  of  the  field  since  the  day  that  she  left  the 
land,  even  until  now. 

7  And  Elisha  came  to  Damascus;  and  Ben-hadad  the 

4.  Gehazi  is  evidently  no  leper  at  this  time,  or  he  would  not 
have  been  admitted  to  an  audience  with  the  king. 

5.  him  that  was  dead:  LXX(B},  'a  child  that  had  died.' 

6.  all  the  fruits  (or,  'produce ')  of  the  field  :  a  sum  equivalent 
to  the  annual  revenue  of  the  estate  for  the  time  it  had  been 
alienated. 

viii.  7-15.  Elisha  and  Haeael.  Elisha  visits  Damascus  ;  and 
Ben-hadad  the  king,  who  was  lying  sick,  sends  Hazael  (probably 
his  general)  to  inquire  of  Yahweh  about  his  prospects  of  recovery. 
Elisha  sends  back  word  that  he  would  certainly  recover ;  but  at 
the  same  time  he  privately  tells  Hazael  that  it  has  been  revealed 
to  him  that  the  king  is  to  die.  Having  said  this,  his  face  assumes 
the  rigidity  of  the  prophetic  trance,  and  he  bursts  into  tears.  On 
being  asked  to  explain  his  emotion,  the  prophet  discloses  his 
prevision  of  the  atrocities  which  Hazael  is  to  perpetrate  on 
Israel ;  and  when  the  latter  disclaims  all  pretensions  to  such 
eminence,  he  addresses  him  plainly  as  the  future  king  of  Syria. 
Hazael  carries  back  to  his  master  the  favourable  message  of 
Elisha;  but  the  next  day  Ben-hadad  is  secretly  murdered,  and  is 
succeeded  by  Hazael.  It  is  not  expressly  stated  that  Hazael  was 
the  assassin  ;  and  a  few  scholars  (Ewald,  Winckler)  have  doubted 


II    KINGS  8.  8-IO.     Es  315 

king  of  Syria  was  sick ;  and  it  was  told  him,  saying,  The 
man  of  God  is  come  hither.     And  the  king  said  unto   8 
Hazael,  Take  a  present  in  thine  hand,  and  go  meet  the 
man  of  God,  and  inquire  of  the  Lord  by  him,  saying. 
Shall  I  recover  of  this  sickness  ?    So  Hazael  went  to  meet   9 
him,  and  took  a  present  with  him,  even  of  every  good 
thing  of  Damascus,  forty  camels'  burden,  and  came  and 
stood  before  him,  and  said.  Thy  son  Ben-hadad  king  of 
Syria  hath  sent  me  to  thee,  saying.  Shall  I  recover  of 
this  sickness  ?     And  Elisha  said  unto  him.  Go,  say  unto  10 
him,  Thou  shalt  surely  recover ;  howbeit  the  Lord  hath 

if  this  be  the  meaning.  But  the  impression  naturally  made  by  the 
narrative  is  probably  correct. 

Hazael  {Haza'ilu)  is  twice  mentioned,  in  an  inscription  of 
Shalmaneser  II,  as  king  of  Damascus  1^842  and  839  B.  c).  Of  his 
origin  nothing  is  known  except  what  may  be  fairly  gathered  from 
the  passage  before  us.  It  is  plain  that  he  was  not  the  legitimate 
heir  of  the  crown,  but  a  usurper  and  the  founder  of  a  new 
dynasty.  It  is  practically  certain  that  he  was  a  high  military 
officer,  probably  the  commander-in-chief.  Singularly  enough,  no 
record  has  been  preserved  of  his  having  been  actually  anointed, 
either  by  Elijah  or  by  Elisha.     (See  i  Kings  xix.  15.) 

*2.  Since  Hazael  reigned  contemporaneously  with  Jehu,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  incident  belongs  to  the  reign  of  Jehoram, 
and  that  Ben-Iiadad  is  the  king  who  fought  unsuccessfully  against 
Ahab  (i  Kings  xx.  i).  The  fame  of  Elisha  had  reached  Damascus 
(in  consequence  of  the  event  of  ch.  v  ?). 

9.  The  costliness  of  the  gift  is  not  incredible,  considering  the 
wealth  of  the  city  and  the  rank  of  the  giver. 

10.  say  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  surely  recover.  There  cannot 
be  a  doubt  that  this  is  the  correct  sense,  although  in  the  Hebrew 
text  the  attempt  was  made  (in  defiance  of  grammar)  to  substitute 
*  not '  for  '  to  him  '  (see  marg.),  in  order  to  clear  the  prophet  from 
the  suspicion  of  falsehood.  It  is  in  fact  difficult  to  evade  the 
conclusion  that  Elisha  utters  a  misleading  oracle.  One  may 
distinguish  between  the  natural  issue  of  the  sickness,  which  was 
all  that  was  in  Ben-hadad's  mind,  and  the  adventitious  cause  of 
death,  to  which  his  question  had  no  reference  ;  but  practically 
Ben-hadad  was  deceived  and  thrown  off  his  guard,  while  Hazael 
received  the  suggestion  which  (like  the  witches'  prophecy  in 
Macbeth)  ripened  into  regicide. 


3i6  II    KINGS  8.  11-T5.     Es 

1 1  shewed  me  that  he  shall  surely  die.  And  he  settled  his 
countenance  stedfastly  tipoti  him^  until  he  was  ashamed : 

12  and  the  man  of  God  wept.  And  Hazael  said,  Why 
weepeth  my  lord  ?  And  he  answered,  Because  I  know 
the  evil  that  thou  wilt  do  unto  the  children  of  Israel: 
their  strong  holds  wilt  thou  set  on  fire,  and  their  young 
men  wilt  thou  slay  with  the  sword,  and  wilt  dash  in 
pieces  their  little  ones,  and  rip  up  their  women  with 

13  child.  And  Hazael  said,  But  what  is  thy  servant,  which 
is  but  a  dog,  that  he  should  do  this  great  thing?  And 
Elisha  answered.  The  Lord  hath  shewed  me  that  thou 

14  shalt  be  king  over  Syria.  Then  he  departed  from  Elisha, 
and  came  to  his  master;  who  said  to  him,  What  said 
Elisha  to  thee  ?     And  he  answered.  He  told  me  that  thou 

15  shouldest  surely  recover.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the 
morrow,  that  he  took  the  coverlet,   and  dipped   it   in 


11.  And  he  settled  .  .  .  ashamed.  The  sentence  is  difficult. 
With  a  small  change  of  pointing  we  might  translate  :  '  his  face 
took  on  a  fixed  look  of  unutterable  horror.'  The  words  rendered 
*  till  he  was  ashamed '  are  common  in  the  sense  of  *  in  the 
extreme,'  &c.  (ii.  17).  It  is  a  description  of  the  prophet's 
appearance  in  the  trance,  in  which  there  came  to  him  the  vision 
of  future  woe,  a  state  from  which  he  found  relief  in  a  flood  of 
tears. 

12  affords  another  glimpse  (cf.  iii.  25,  xv.  16)  of  the  atrocities 
of  ancient  warfare  (see  also  Amos  i.  3,  13). 

13.  thy  servant  .  .  .  dogf:  Hi.  'thy  ser^'ant  the  dog'— a  self- 
depreciatory  epithet  (cf.  2  Sam.  ix.  8).  This  comparison,  and 
the  following  expression  this  great  thing-,  shows  that  Hazael's 
feeling  is  not  horror  at  the  idea  of  his  own  future  depravity,  but 
simple  incredulity  of  the  great  honour  in  store  for  him. 

hath    shewed    me :    lit.    '  hath   made  me   see   thee    (in  the 
ecstasy)  as  king  over  Syria.' 

15.  the  coverlet;  The  word  {inakher)  is  not  known  ;  since 
the  article  was  dipped  in  water,  it  must  have  been  some  kind  of 
cloth,  with  which  the  king  was  suffocated.  Ewald,  who  supposes 
that  Ben-hadad  was  murdered  in  his  bath  by  the  attendants  (and 
cites  many  parallel  cases  in  histor}'),  renders  'bath-cloth.' 


II    KINGS  8.  16-18.     EsD  317 

water,  and  spread  it  on  his  face,  so  that  he  died :  and 
Hazael  reigned  in  his  stead. 

[D]  And  in  the  fifth  year  of  Joram  the  son  of  Ahab  16 
king  of  Israel,  Jehoshaphat  being  then  king  of  Judah, 
Jehoram  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  king  of  Judah  began  to 
reign.     Thirty  and  two  years  old  was  he  when  he  began  1 7 
to  reign ;  and  he  reigned  eight  years  in  Jerusalem.     And  18 
he  walked  in  the  way  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  as  did  the 
house  of  Ahab :   for  he  had  the  daughter  of  Ahab  to 
wife :  and  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the 

viii.  16-24.  Jehoram  of  Judah.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxi.) 
Of  these  verses,  16-19  ^"^  23,  24  belong  to  the  compiler,  while 
20-22  are  an  extract  from  the  chronicles  of  Judah.  It  will  be 
observed  that  at  this  point  the  systematic  arrangement  of  the 
material,  which  is  on  the  whole  so  strictly  adhered  to,  is  entirely 
abandoned.  In  accordance  with  his  ordinary  procedure  the 
compiler  should  have  carried  on  his  account  of  the  reign  of 
Jehoram  of  Israel  to  its  conclusion,  and  then  turned  back  to 
those  kings  of  Judah  who  had  begun  to  reign  meanwhile.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  concluding  formula  for  Jehoram  (of  Israel) 
and  the  introductory  formula  for  Jehu  are  omitted  ;  and  the 
two  contemporary  Judaean  reigns  are  introduced  before  the 
death  of  Jehoram.  A  reason  for  the  irregularity  is  found  in  the 
consideration  that  it  became  necessary  to  record  the  deaths  of 
a  king  of  Israel  and  a  king  of  Judah  on  the  same  day.  There 
was  therefore  an  advantage  in  breaking  down  the  barrier  of  the 
*  framework  '  at  this  point,  so  as  to  allow  the  two  separate  streams 
of  narrative  to  coalesce  for  a  moment  and  converge  on  a  single 
incident.  But  whether  the  arrangement  is  due  to  the  compiler 
himself  is  not  so  certain.  The  Lucianic  text  contains  a  number 
of  scattered  indications  which  go  far  to  show  that  there  were  old 
MSS.  of  Kings  in  which  a  different  order  obtained,  and  in  which 
it  is  conceivable  that  the  usual  chronological  scheme  was 
observ.ed.     See  below  on  viii.  25-29,  ix.  29,  x.  28-36. 

viii.  16-19.     Introduction. 

16.  The  names  Joram  and  Jehoram  are  of  course  identical,  and 
seem  to  be  used  indiscriminately.  The  words  Jehoshaphat  .  .  . 
Jndahare  a  transcriber's  error,and  mustbe  omitted,  with  LXX,  &c. 

18.  the  dauerhter  of  Ahab :  Athaliah,  verse  26,  xi.  i.  Note 
the  omission  of  the  name  of  the  queen-mother  in  this  reign. 


3i8  II    KINGS  8.  19-24.     DKJD 

19  Lord,  Howbeit  the  Lord  would  not  destroy  Judah, 
for  David  his  servant's  sake,  as  he  promised  him  to  give 

20  unto  him  a  lamp  for  his  children  alway.  [KJ]  In  his 
days  Edom  revolted  from  under  the  hand  of  Judah,  and 

21  made  a  king  over  themselves.  Then  Joram  passed  over 
to  Zair,  and  all  his  chariots  with  him  :  and  he  rose  up  by 
night,  and  smote  the  Edomites  which  compassed  him 
about,  and  the  captains  of  the  chariots  :  and  the  people 

2  3  fled  to  their  tents.  So  Edom  revolted  from  under  the 
hand  of  Judah,=  unto  this  day.     Then  did  Libnah  revolt 

23  at  the  same  time.  [D]  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Joram,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the 

24  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah?  And 
Joram  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  with  his 
fathers  in  the  city  of  David :  and  Ahaziah  his  son 
reigned  in  his  stead. 

19.  See  on  i  Kings  xi.  36. 

for  his  children.     But  the  children  are  themselves  the  lamp. 
Read  'before  him  '  (Klostermann,  &c.). 

viii.  20-22.  Revolt  of  Edom  and  Libnah. 

20.  and  made  a  king.     See  on  i  Kings  xxii.  47  ;  2  Kings  iii.  9. 

21  describes  an  attempt  of  Jehoram  to  subdue  the  rebellion, 
v^^hich  ended  in  a  disaster  to  the  army  of  Judah,  though  this  is  made 
as  little  of  as  possible,  after  the  manner  of  official  records.  The 
facts  evidently  were  that  the  king  found  himself  ambushed  by 
a  superior  force  of  Edomites,  but  succeeded  in  breaking  his  way 
through  and  saving  a  part  of  his  army  by  flight.  There  must  be 
a  lacuna  in  the  verse  between  with  him  and  he  rose  up.  The 
captains  of  the  chariots  are  those  of  Jehoram's  ovv^n  army,  men- 
tioned in  the  beginning  of  the  verse.  A  very  small  change  would 
enable  us  to  read  :  '■  and  with  him  were  the  captains  of  the 
chariots,'  which  is  necessary  to  obtain  an  intelligible  sentence 
(Kittel).     The  place  Zair  is  not  known. 

22  *.  unto  this  day  :  probably  added  by  the  compiler. 

22  *».  Iiibnah  was  an  important  military  position  in  the  low- 
land plain,  not  far  from  Lachish  (see  on  xix.  8).  Its  site  has  not 
been  certainly  determined.  Since  it  is  said  to  have  'revolted,' 
it  cannot  have  formed  an  integral  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah, 
but  must  have  been  a  Philistine  city. 


II    KINGS  8.  26-28.     D  319 

In  the  twelfth  year  of  Joram  the  son  of  Ahab  king  of  25 
Israel  did  Ahaziah  the  son  of  Jehoram  king  of  Judah 
begin  to  reign.     Two  and  twenty  years  old  was  Ahaziah  26 
when  he  began  to  reign ;  and  he  reigned  one  year  in 
Jerusalem.     And  his  mother's  name  was  Athaliah  the 
daughter  of  Omri  king  of  Israel.     And  he  walked  in  the  27 
way  of  the  house  of  Ahab,  and  did  that  which  was  evil 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  as  did  the  house  of  Ahab :  for 
he  was  the  son  in  law  of  the  house  of  Ahab.     And  he  28 
went  with  Joram  the  son  of  Ahab  to  war  against  Hazael 
king  of  Syria  at  Ramoth-gilead  :  and  the  Syrians  wounded 

viii.  25-29.  Ahaziah  of  Judah.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxii.  1-9.) 
The  short  reign  of  this  king  was  unmarked  by  any  incident 
save  the  one  that  led  to  his  death.  The  narrative  is  wholly  redac- 
tional;  and,  for  the  reason  given  in  the  note  on  p,  317,  it  breaks 
off  abruptly,  leaving  the  account  of  the  death  to  be  given  in  con- 
nexion with  that  of  Jehoram.  LXX  (L)  inserts  between  ch.  x 
and  xi  a  duplicate  account  of  the  reign,  of  which  the  conclusion 
(replacing  verses  28,  29)  is  as  follows :  '  And  Ahaziah  went  to 
war  against  Hazael  king  of  Syria.  Then  Jehu  the  son  of  Nimshi 
conspired  against  Jehoram  son  of  Ahab  king  of  Israel,  and  smote 
him  in  Jezreel,  and  he  died.  And  Jehu  shot  Ahaziah  also  the 
king  of  Judah  in  the  chariot,  and  he  died.  And  his  servants 
brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  buried  him  in  the  city  of  David.' 
Benzinger  takes  this  to  be  the  original  form  (and  position?)  of 
the  section  ;  but  it  is  equally  possible  that  it  may  be  but  one  of 
many  tentative  readjustments  of  the  text.  It  certainly  shows 
that  the  treatment  of  this  complicated  portion  of  the  history  was 
a  source  of  great  embarrassment  to  many  editors. 

25.  For  twelfth  LXX  (L)  reads  'eleventh':  cf.  ix.  29.  It 
is  an  instructive  example  of  the  difference  between  the  two 
sj'stems  of  reckoning  in  use.  In  the  usual  system  of  the  Hebrew 
part  of  a  year  is  counted  as  a  year  :  hence  to  have  said  that  Aliaziah 
began  to  reign  in  the  eleventli  year  of  Jehoram  would  have  implied 
that  he  reigned  two  years  ;  and  conversely,  since  he  was  known 
to  have  reigned  but  one  year,  his  accession  must  be  assigned  to 
the  last  (twelfth)  year  of  Jehoram. 

26.  daug-hter  :  here  in  the  sense  of  *  granddaughter  '  (marg.). 
The  mention  of  Omri  is  an  additional  tribute  to  the  fame  of  that 
monarch  :  see  p.  218. 

28,  29.   See  the  inlroductory  note  above.     The   expression 


320  II    KINGS  8.  29—9.  i.     D  N 

29  Joram.  And  king  Joram  returned  to  be  healed  in  Jezreel 
of  the  wounds  which  the  Syrians  had  given  him  at  Ramah, 
when  he  fought  against  Hazael  king  of  Syria.  And 
Ahaziah  the  son  of  Jehoram  king  of  Judah  went  down  to 
see  Joram  the  son  of  Ahab  in  Jezreel,  because  he  was 
sick. 

9      [N]  And  Elisha  the  prophet  called  one  of  the  sons  of 

went  down  (from  Jerusalem)  would  seem  to  imply  that  Ahaziah 
was  not  at  the  seat  of  war  (so  ix.  16). 

ix,  X.   The  Great  Revolution. 

The  opposition  of  the  prophets  to  the  reUgious  policy  of  the 
house  of  Omri,  which  had  been  initiated  by  the  work  of  EHjah, 
broke  out  at  last  in  the  tragic  events  recorded  in  these  two  chapters. 
Elisha,  inheriting  the  ideas  of  his  master,  had  waited  long  for  an 
opportunity  to  translate  them  into  effective  action  ;  but  at  last  he 
deemed  that  the  time  was  come  to  carry  out  his  purpose  by 
a  military  revolution.  The  instrument  he  selected  for  this  purpose 
was  Jehu  the  son  of  Nimshi,  a  dashing  and  popular  officer  of  the 
army,  in  whom  private  ambition  went  hand  in  hand  with  some 
degree  of  sympathy  with  the  aims  of  the  prophetic  party.  Having 
received  the  signal  for  action,  Jehu  executed  the  task  assigned 
to  him  with  the  impetuosity  and  ruthlessness  that  were  character- 
istic of  him,  giving  himself  no  rest  till  he  had  extirpated  the  reign- 
ing house,  massacred  the  declared  devotees  of  Baal,  and  seated 
himself  on  the  throne  as  the  founder  of  a  new  dynasty. 

The  narrative  rises  at  times  to  a  height  of  descriptive  power 
which  is  unsurpassed  in  the  pages  of  the  O.  T.  Although  doubts 
have  been  expressed  as  to  the  complete  literary  unity  of  the  pas- 
sage, they  have  scarcely  sufficient  weight  to  demand  consideration 
here.  The  hand  of  the  Deuteronomic  compiler  is  manifest  in 
ix.  7-10,  X.  28-36  ;  and  there  mav  be  some  insertions  caused  by 
the  omission  of  earlier  portions  of  the  document  (e.  g.  ix.  14,  15). 
But  that  in  the  main  the  passage  is  taken  from  an  ancient  and 
contemporary  source  is  certain  ;  and  the  literary  evidence  goes 
to  prove  that  it  was  written  by  the  same  author  as  i  Kings  xx, 
xxii  (see  ix.  a,  23,  x.  14,  &c.).  The  objection  that  a  writer  whose 
appreciation  of  the  character  of  Ahab  appears  so  clearly  in  ch. 
XX,  xxii  could  not  have  written  so  dispassionately  in  ch.  ix  of 
the  destruction  of  his  house  has  little  force.  The  suppression  of 
the  author's  personal  judgement  is  a  feature  of  the  record  ;  and 
it  would  not  be  easy   to  discover  whether  his  own  sympathies 


II    KINGS  9.  2-5.     N  321 

the  prophets,  and  said  unto  him,  Gird  up  thy  loins,  and 
take  this  vial  of  oil  in  thine  hand,  and  go  to  Ramoth- 
gilead.     And  when  thou  comest  thither,  look  out  there  2 
Jehu  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  the  son  of  Nimshi,  and  go 
in,  and  make  him  arise  up  from  among  his  brethren,  and 
carry  him  to  an  inner  chamber.     Then  take  the  vial  of  3 
oil,  and  pour  it  on  his  head,  and  say,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,   I  have  anointed   thee  king  over   Israel.     Then 
open  the  door,  and  flee,  and  tarry  not.     So  the  young  4 
man,  even  the  young  man  the  prophet,  went  to  Ramoth- 
gilead.     And  when  he  came,  behold,  the  captains  of  the  5 
host  were  sitting ;  and  he  said,  I  have  an  errand  to  thee, 

went  with  the  successful  usurper  whose  career  he  chronicles,  or 
whether  he  shared  the  widespread  horror  of  Jehu's  crimes  which 
breaks  forth  even  from  the  pages  of  Hosea  (i.  4).  His  real  feel- 
ing is  perhaps  a  sense  of  the  tragedy  in  the  history  of  the  power- 
ful dynasty  which  had  measured  its  human  strength  against  the 
deepest  spiritual  forces  of  the  age  and  been  swept  away  before 
them. 

ix.  1-13.  The  Anointirtg  of  Jehu.  Elisha  sends  one  of  his 
disciples  to  Ramoth-gilead  to  anoint  Jehu  king  of  Israel.  The 
fortress  was  then  held  against  the  Syrians  by  the  Israelitish  army, 
in  which  Jehu  was  a  superior  officer ;  while  Jehoram  had  retired 
from  the  front  because  of  wounds  received  in  battle.  The  young 
prophet  executed  his  commission  with  the  celerity  and  secrecy 
which  the  occasion  demanded,  and  vanished  as  suddenly  as  he 
came.  Jehu  is  at  first  rallied  by  his  brother  officers  on  the  strange 
appearance  of  his  visitor ;  but  when  he  divulges  to  them  the 
serious  import  of  the  interview  they  at  once  declare  themselves 
in  his  favour,  and  proclaim  him  king  by  acclamation. 

1.  On  Bamoth-gilead,  see  i  Kings  xxii.  3.  That  the  city 
was  now  in  possession  of  Israel  follows  from  verse  14. 

2.  Jehu  is  called  simply  '  son  of  Nimshi  '  in  verse  20  and 
I  Kings  xix.  16.  His  grandfather  was  apparently  a  more  impor- 
tant person  than  his  father. 

to  an  inner  chamber.     See  i  Kings  xx.  30,  xxii.  25. 

3.  On  the  ceremony  of  anointing,  see  i  Kings  i.  39. 
5.  were  sitting  :  probably  holding  a  council  of  war. 

which  of  all  ns  ?     The  question  hardly  suggests  that  Jehu 
was  in  chief  command. 


322  II    KINGS  9.  6-12.     NDN 

0  captain.     And  Jel^u  said,  Unto  which  of  all  us?     And 

6  he  said,  To  thee,  O  captain.  And  he  arose,  and  went 
into  the  house ;  and  he  poured  the  oil  on  his  head,  and 
said  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 

1  have  anointed  thee  king  over  the  people  of  the  Lord, 

7  even  over  Israel.  [D]  And  thou  shalt  smite  the  house 
of  Ahab  thy  master,  that  I  may  avenge  the  blood  of  my 
servants  the  prophets,  and  the  blood  of  all  the  servants 

8  of  the  Lord,  at  the  hand  of  Jezebel.  For  the  whole 
house  of  Ahab  shall  perish :  and  I  will  cut  off  from 
Ahab  every  man  child,  and  him  that  is  shut  up  and  him 

9  that  is  left  at  large  in  Israel.  And  I  will  make  the  house 
of  Ahab  like  the  house  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 

10  and  like  the  house  of  Baasha  the  son  of  Ahijah.  And 
the  dogs  shall  eat  Jezebel  in  the  portion  of  Jezreel,  and 
there  shall  be  none  to  bury  her.     [N]  And  he  opened 

11  the  door,  and  fled.  Then  Jehu  came  forth  to  the 
servants  of  his  lord :  and  one  said  unto  him,  Is  all  well  ? 
wherefore  came  this  mad  fellow  to  thee  ?  And  he  said 
unto  them,  Ye  know  the  man  and  what  his  talk  was. 

12  And  they  said.  It  is  false;  tell  us  now.  And  he  said. 
Thus  and  thus  spake  he  to  me,  saying.  Thus  saith  the 


7-10*  are  an  addition  by  the  compiler  (cf,  i  Kings  xiv.  lof., 
xxi.  2off.),  and  show  acquaintance  with  i  Kings  xvii-xix,  as 
well  as  xxi.  23. 

10  •^  in  the  primary  document  followed  immediately  on  verse  6. 

11.  one  said:  better  (as  LXX,  &c.),  'they  said.' 
this  mad  fellow.  The  lower  ecstatic  forms  of  prophecy 
being  scarcely  distinguishable  from  insanity,  prophet  and  lunatic 
were  kindred  figures  to  the  ancient  mind,  which  attributed  both 
to  possession  by  a  supernatural  power.  Although  it  be  true  that 
for  this  reason  lunatics  are  still  reverenced  in  the  East,  there  is 
undoubtedly  a  shade  of  contempt  in  the  choice  of  this  epithet  by 
the  officers. 

Ye  know  the  man.    The  meaning  appears  to  be  :  '  You  know 
the  kind  of  wild  talk  in  which  these  fellows  indulge.' 


II    KINGS  9.  13-16.     N  323 

Lord,   I  have  anointed  thee  king  over  Israel.     Then  13 
they  hasted,  and  took  every  man  his  garment,  and  put  it 
under  him  on  the  top  of  the  stairs,  and  blew  the  trumpet, 
saying,  Jehu  is  king.     So  Jehu  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  14 
the   son   of   Nimshi   conspired    against    Joram.     (Now 
Joram  kept  Ramoth-gilead,   he  and  all  Israel,  because 
of  Hazael  king  of  Syria  :  but  king  Joram  was  returned  to  15 
be  healed  in  Jezreel  of  the  wounds  which  the  Syrians  had 
given  him,  when  he  fought  with  Hazael  king  of  Syria.) 
And  Jehu  said,   If  this  be  your  mind,   then  let  none 
escape  and  go  forth  out  of  the  city,  to  go  to  tell  it  in 
Jezreel.     So  Jehu  rode  in  a  chariot,  and  went  to  Jezreel;  16 

13.  took  every  man  .  .  .  under  him  (i.  e.  under  Jehu) :  pro- 
bably a  symbol  of  subjection  ;  cf.  Matt.  xxi.  8. 

the  top  of  the  stairs.     The  word  for  '  top '  (properly  bone) 
is  not  quite  intelligible  in  this  connexion  (see  marg.). 

ix.  14-28.  The  Murder  of  Jehoram  and  Ahaziah.  Jehu,  having 
taken  all  possible  precautions  against  premature  disclosure  of  his 
design,  mounts  his  chariot  and  starts  on  his  long  ride  to  Jezreel. 
Here,  by  a  most  effective  transition,  the  writer  suddenly  trans- 
ports us  to  the  point  of  view  of  the  watchman  on  the  tower  of 
Jezreel,  who  sees  the  cavalcade  in  the  distance  and  reports  its 
approach  to  the  king.  Two  messengers  are  dispatched  in  quick 
succession  to  make  inquiries,  and  each  in  his  turn  is  detained  by 
Jehu  and  compelled  to  ride  behind  him.  By  this  time  the  watch- 
man has  recognized  the  mad  driving  of  the  son  of  Nimshi ;  and 
on  learning  this  Jehoram,  now  thoroughly  alarmed,  gets  ready  his 
chariot,  and  drives  forth  to  meet  his  fate.  The  chariots  meet 
just  by  what  had  once  been  Naboth's  portion  ;  and  there  after 
a  brief  parley  Jehoram  is  shot  through  the  heart  from  behind  by 
Jehu,  who  orders  his  body  to  be  thrown  into  the  field  of  Naboth, 
in  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Elijah.  Ahaziah  of  Judah  also, 
who  had  accompanied  Jehoram,  is  mortally  wounded,  but  succeeds 
in  reaching  Megiddo,  where  he  dies. 

14*  is  a  recapitulation  of  the  preceding  events. 

14^,  15*  are  probably  an  abridgement  of  a  still  earlier  part  of 
the  document,  which  had  to  be  introduced  here  in  explanation 
of  what  follows. 

15  ^.  If  this  be  your  mind  :  LXX,  ♦  If  your  mind  be  with  me ' ; 
i.e.  *  if  you  are  heartily  on  my  side.' 

V    2 


324  11    KINGS  9.  17-22.     N 

for  Joram  lay  there.  And  Ahaziah  king  of  Judah  was 
I ;  come  down  to  see  Joram.  Now  the  watchman  stood  on 
the  tower  in  Jezreel,  and  he  spied  the  company  of  Jehu 
as  he  came,  and  said,  I  see  a  company.  And  Joram 
said.  Take  an  horseman,  and  send  to  meet  them,  and  let 

18  him  say.  Is  it  peace  ?  So  there  went  one  on  horseback  to 
meet  him,  and  said,  Thus  saith  the  king.  Is  it  peace? 
And  Jehu  said,  What  hast  thou  to  do  with  peace  ?  turn 
thee  behind  me.  And  the  watchman  told,  saying.  The 
messenger   came  to  them,    but   he  cometh   not   again. 

19  Then  he  sent  out  a  second  on  horseback,  which  came  to 
them,  and  said.  Thus  saith  the  king,  Is  it  peace  ?  And 
Jehu  answered,  What  hast  thou  to  do  with  peace  ?  turn 

20  thee  behind  me.  And  the  watchman  told,  saying.  He 
came  even  unto  them,  and  cometh  not  again :  and  the 
driving  is  like  the  driving  of  Jehu  the  son  of  Nimshi ; 

21  for  he  driveth  furiously.  And  Joram  said,  Make  ready. 
And  they  made  ready  his  chariot.  And  Joram  king  of 
Israel  and  Ahaziah  king  of  Judah  went  out,  each  in  his 
chariot,  and  they  went  out  to  meet  Jehu,  and  found  him 

22  in  the  portion  of  Naboth  the  Jezreelite.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  when  Joram  saw  Jehu,  that  he  said.  Is  it  peace, 
Jehu?     And  he  answered,  What  peace,  so  long  as  the 

16*  is  again  an  explanatory  parenthesis,  accounting  for  the 
presence  of  Ahaziah  with  Jehoram.     See  on  viii.  29. 

17.  company:  a  rare  word  (=  'abundance');  cf.  Isa.  Ix.  6, 
Ezek.  xxvi.  10.     LXX  renders,  '  dust-cloud.' 

18.  *  Is  all  well?'  (marg.).  The  question  can  hardly  be.  Do 
you  come  with  friendly  intent  ?  or  the  king  would  not  afterwards 
have  ridden  out  unarmed  to  meet  the  danger.  The  source  of  his 
anxiety  must  be  apprehension  of  bad  news  from  the  seat  of  war. 

20.  furiously  :  '  like  a  madman ' ;  from  the  same  root  as  '  mad 
fellow'  inverse  11, 

21.  Jehoram,  still  unsuspicious  of  immediate  danger,  orders  his 
chariot  to  be  harnessed,  that  he  might  be  ready  to  proceed  at 
once  to  Ramoth-gilead  if  necessary. 


II    KINGS  9.  23-27.     N  325 

whoredoms  of  thy  mother  Jezebel  and  her  witchcrafts 
are  so  many?     And  Joram  turned  his  hands,  and  fled,  23 
and  said  to  Ahaziah,   There  is  treachery,  O  Ahaziah. 
And  Jehu  drew  his  bow  with  his  full  strength,  and  smote  24 
Joram  between  his  arms,  and  the  arrow  went  out  at  his 
heart,  and  he  sunk  down  in  his  chariot.     Then  saidy^/^^^  25 
to  Bidkar  his  captain,  Take  up,  and  cast  him   in  the 
portion    of   the    field    of   Naboth    the    Jezreelite :    for 
remember  how  that,  when  I  and  thou  rode  together  after 
Ahab  his  father,  the  Lord  laid  this  burden  upon  him; 
Surely  I  have  seen  yesterday  the  blood  of  Naboth,  and  26 
the  blood  of  his  sons,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  I  will  requite 
thee  in  this  plat,  saith  the  Lord.     Now  therefore  take 
and  cast  him  into  the  plat  of  ground,  according  to  the 
word  of  the   Lord.     But  when   Ahaziah   the   king  of  2  7 
Judah  saw  this,  he  fled  by  the  way  of  the  garden  house. 

22.  whoredoms  and  witchcrafts:  metaphorical  expressions 
for  idolatry. 

23.  turned  his  hands :  cf.  i  Kings  xxii.  34. 

24.  Render :  *  But  Jehu  had  filled  his  hand  with  the  bow  '  (see 
marg.)  ;  i.  e.  had  held  it  ready  for  action  (cf.  2  Sam.  xxiii.  7). 

25.  his  captain  :   'adjutant'  (as  vii.  2% 

for  remember :  better,  as  LXX,  &c.,  •  for  I  remember  how 
I  and  thou.' 

rode  togfether  :  '■  rode  in  pairs  ' ;  but  the  Hebrew  expression 
is  difficult,  and  the  text  almost  certainly  at  fault. 

burden:  or,  'oracle':  ///.  a  'lifting  up'  (sc.  of  the  voice), 
a  term  often  used  of  a  prophetic  utterance  :  Isa.  xiii.  i ;  Zech. 
ix.  I  ;  Mai.  i.  i  ;  Jer.  xxiii,  33  ff.,  &c. 

26.  Cf.  I  Kings  xxi.  19.  The  reference  is  certainly  to  the  same 
incident ;  and  although  there  is  no  material  discrepancy  between 
the  two  accounts,  still  the  difference  in  the  terms  of  the  oracle 
makes  it  improbable  that  the  author  of  either  narrative  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  other.  They  embody  separate  traditions,  and 
of  these  the  one  here  followed  is  probably  closer  to  the  actual 
facts. 

27.  the  garden  house  should  probably  be  read  as  a  proper 
name,  Bcth-hag-gaii,  which  has  been  plausibly  identified  with  En- 
gaitniiit  (Joshua  xix.  21  ,  now  Jcnln,  on  the  high  road  to  Jerusalem, 


326  II    KINGS  9.  28-30.     NZN 

And  Jehu  followed  after  him,  and  said,  Smite  him  also 
in  the  chariot :  and  they  sfuote  him  at  the  ascent  of  Gur, 
which  is  by  Ibleam.     And  he  fled  to  Megiddo,  and  died 

28  there.  And  his  servants  carried  him  in  a  chariot  to 
Jerusalem,  and  buried  him  in  his  sepulchre  with  his 
fathers  in  the  city  of  David. 

29  [Zj  And  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Joram  the  son  of 
Ahab  began  Ahaziah  to  reign  over  Judah. 

30  [N]  And  when   Jehu  was  come  to  Jezreel,   Jezebel 

about  seven  miles  due  south  of  Jezreel.  The  clause  in  italics 
('and  they  smote  him  ')  must  have  been  accidentally  omitted  in  the 
Hebrew.  LXX,  on  the  other  hand,  omits  the  command,  reading  : 
'  and  he  said,  Him  too  !     And  they  smote  him,'  &c. 

Ibleam  (or  Bileam,  i  Chron.  vi.  70)  is  the  modern  Bel'ameh, 
a  mile  further  south. 

Megiddo  {LejjitH,  see  i  Kings  iv.  12)  lies  north-west  from 
Jenin,  on  anotlier  road,  at  a  distance  of  eleven  miles. 

ix.  29  breaks  the  connexion,  and  its  insertion  here  is  difficult  to 
account  for.  It  is  the  introductory  formula  of  the  reign  of 
Ahaziah,  but  with  the  chronology  characteristic  of  LXX(L')  (see 
on  viii.  25).  Now,  it  so  happens  that  the  duplicate  which  LXX 
has  given  at  the  end  of  ch.  x  lacks  the  introduction  ;  this  verse, 
together  with  x.  37-43  of  that  version,  would  make  up  a  complete 
account  of  Ahaziah's  reign.  It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  in  some 
early  MSS.  the  complete  notice  of  Ahaziah  stood  between  ix.  28 
and  30,  following  the  death  of  Jehoram  of  Israel,  which  (be  it 
observed)  would  be  its  proper  place  if,  as  there  is  reason  to 
believe  (see  on  i.  17),  there  existed  a  chronological  sj'stem  which 
placed  the  accession  of  Jehoram  of  Judah  before  that  of  Jehoram 
of  Israel.  Only,  the  entire  omission  of  the  concluding  formula  of 
Jehoram's  reign  would  still  remain  unexplained  ;  and  altogether 
the  confusion  in  LXX  is  too  great  to  be  satisfactorily  cleared  up. 

ix,  30-37.  The  End  of  Jezebel.  Jehu  returns  to  Jezreel,  and 
at  the  palace  gate  is  hailed  by  the  mocking  challenge  of  Jezebel, 
who  salutes  him  from  an  upper  window  as  a  second  Zimri,  a 
murderer  of  his  master.  At  his  command  some  eunuchs  throw 
her  down  to  the  street,  where  she  is  trampled  to  death  by  his 
horses.  After  banqueting  in  the  palace  he  gives  orders  for  lier 
burial  as  a  king's  daughter  ;  but  it  was  found  that  Elijah's  words 


II    KINGS  9.  31-37.     N  327 

heard  of  it ;  and  she  painted  her  eyes,  and  tired  her 
head,  and   looked  out  at  the  window.     And  as  Jehu  31 
entered  in  at  the  gate,  she  said,  Is  it  peace,  thou  Zimri, 
thy  master's  murderer?     And  he  hfted  up  his  face  to  the  32 
window,  and  said,  Who  is  on  my  side  ?  who  ?   And  there 
looked  out  to  him  two  or  three  eunuchs.     And  he  said,  3.'. 
Throw  her  down.     So  they  threw  her  down  :  and  some 
of  her  blood  was   sprinkled  on  the  wall,   and  on  the 
horses  :   and  he  trode  her  under  foot.     And  when  he  34 
was  come  in,  he  did  eat  and  drink;  and  he  said,  See 
now  to  this  cursed  woman,  and  bury  her:  for  she  is  a 
king's  daughter.     And  they  went  to  bury  her :  but  they  35 
found  no  more  of  her  than  the  skull,  and  the  feet,  and 
the  palms  of  her  hands.     Wherefore  they  came  again,  36 
and  told  him.     And  he  said,  This  is  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  which  he  spake  by  his  servant  Elijah  the  Tishbite, 
saying,  In  the  portion  of  Jezreel  shall  the  dogs  eat  the 
flesh  of  Jezebel :   and  the  carcase  of  Jezebel  shall  be  as  37 

had  received  a  terribly  literal  fulfilment,  the  dogs  having  already 
devoured  her  flesh, 

30.  painted  her  eyes:  lit.  'set  her  eyes  in  antimony,' 
a  black  powder  or  paste  with  which  females  in  the  East  blacken 
the  edge  cf  the  eyelids  above  and  below.  The  effect  is  said  to  be 
striking  in  enhancing  the  brilliancy  of  the  eyes  and  increasing 
their  apparent  size.  See  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians,  p.  29  ff. 
(Minerva  edition). 

31.  Is  it  peace  ?  appears  here  to  be  no  more  than  the  form  of 
salutation.  The  stinging  vocative  '  Zimri'  carries  with  it,  of  course, 
a  covert  allusion  to  the  fate  of  that  regicide. 

32.  Who  is  on  my  side?  who?  The  LXX  has  'Who  art 
thou  ?  Come  down  with  me '  ;  out  of  this  Klostermann  makes, 
'  Who  art  thou  that  thou  shouldest  contend  wilh  me? '  But  the 
Massoretic  text  gives  a  good  sense. 

33.  For  and  he  trode  it  is  better  to  read  the  plural,  with  the 
ancient  versions  :  '  And  they  (the  horses)  trode.' 

36.  See  on  i  Kings  xxi.  23. 

37.  as  duns',  &c.  The  word  is  applied  only  to  corpses,  and 
always  in  phrases  similar  to  this  :  Jer.  viii.  2,  ix.  22,  &c.,  &c. 


328  II    KINGS  10.  1-4.     N 

dung  upon  the  face  of  the  field  in  the  portion  of  Jezreel ; 
so  that  they  shall  not  say,  This  is  Jezebel. 
10       Now  Ahab  had  seventy  sons  in  Samaria.     And  Jehu 
wrote  letters,   and   sent  to  Samaria,  unto  the  rulers  of 
Jezreel,  even  the  elders,  and  unto  them  that  brought  up 

2  fke  sons  of  Ahab,  saying,  And  now  as  soon  as  this  letter 
Cometh  to  you,  seeing  your  master's  sons  are  with  you, 
and  there  are  with  you  chariots  and  horses,  a  fenced  city 

3  also,  and  armour ;  look  ye  out  the  best  and  meetest  of 
your  master's  sons,  and  set  him  on  his  father's  throne, 

4  and  fight  for  your  master's  house.  But  they  were 
exceedingly  afraid,  and  said.  Behold,  the  two  kings  stood 


X.  1-14.  Massacre  of  the  Royal  Princes  of  Israel  and  Jiidah. 
Following  the  common  practice  of  usurpers,  Jehu  takes  measures 
to  extirpate  the  numerous  members  of  the  house  of  Ahab.  To 
the  guardians  of  Jehoram's  sons  in  Samaria  he  sends  an  ironical 
challenge,  inviting  them  to  set  up  one  of  the  princes  as  king,  and 
let  the  matter  of  the  sovereignty  be  fought  out  on  the  field  of 
battle.  The  magnates,  however,  at  once  declare  their  submission  ; 
on  which  Jehu  demands  the  heads  of  the  seventy  princes.  These 
were  accordingly  sent  to  Jezreel,  and  exposed  in  two  heaps  at 
the  gate  of  the  city.  The  next  day,  over  this  ghastly  spectacle, 
Jehu  harangued  the  people,  arguing  that  while  he  personally  was 
responsible  for  the  death  of  the  late  king,  there  was  clearly  a 
higher  power  at  work,  namely,  the  word  of  the  Lord  spoken  by 
Elijah.  Having  ordered  the  execution  of  the  remaining  adherents 
of  the  late  dynasty,  he  then  set  out  for  Samaria  ;  but  on  the  way 
he  met  a  party  of  Judaean  princes  who  were  going  to  visit  their 
royal  relatives  :  these  also  he  caused  to  be  butchered  on  the  spot. 

1.  unto  the  rulers  of  Jezreel,  even.  Read,  with  LXX  (L\ 
*  to  the  rulers  of  the  city  and  to '  :  the  city  being  Samaria.  On 
the  same  authority  the  italicized  words  'the  sons  of  should  be 
restored  to  the  text.  The  rulers  are,  as  usual,  the  officials  ;  the 
elders  are  the  representatives  of  the  people. 

them  that  "brougrht  up:  better,  'the  guardians  of  :  else- 
where the  word  means  '  foster-father'  (Num.  xi.  12  ;  Isa.  xlix.  23). 
In  the  beginning  of  the  verse  the  word  'sons'  must  mean 
descendants  :  it  is  implied  that  in  that  number  were  included 
children  of  Jehoram  (verse  3). 

2.  The  citation  from  the  letter  begins  precisely  as  in  v.  6. 


II    KINGS  10.  5-10.     N  329 

not  before  him  :   how  then  shall  we  stand  ?  x\nd  he  that    5 
was  over  the  household,  and  he  that  was  over  the  city, 
the  elders  also,  and  they  that  brought  up  the  children^ 
sent  to  Jehu,  saying,  We  are  thy  servants,  and  will  do  all 
that  thou  shalt  bid  us ;  we  will  not  make  any  man  king : 
do  thou  that  which  is  good  in   thine  eyes.     Then  he   6 
wrote  a  letter  the  second  time  to  them,  saying.  If  ye  be 
on  my  side,  and  if  ye  will  hearken  unto  my  voice,  take 
ye  the  heads  of  the  men  your  master's  sons,  and  come  to 
me  to  Jezreel  by  to-morrow  this  time.     Now  the  king's 
sons,  being  seventy  persons,  were  with  the  great  men  of 
the  city,  which  brought  them  up.     And  it  came  to  pass,    7 
when  the  letter  came  to  them,  that  they  took  the  king's 
sons,  and  slew  them,  even  seventy  persons,  and  put  their 
heads  in  baskets,  and  sent  them  unto  him  to  Jezreel. 
And  there  came  a   messenger,  and   told   him,   saying,   8 
They  have  brought  the  heads  of  the  king's  sons.     And 
he  said.  Lay  ye  them  in  two  heaps  at  the  entering  in  of 
the  gate  until  the  morning.     And  it  came  to  pass  in  the   9 
morning,  that  he  went  out,  and  stood,  and  said  to  all  the 
people,  Ye  be  righteous :  behold,  I  conspired  against  my 
master,  and  slew  him  :  but  who  smote  all  these?     Know  10 
now  that  there  shall  fall  unto  the  earth  nothing  of  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  which  the  Lord  spake  concerning 


6.  and  come  to  me:  LXX,  'and  bring  them  to  me.' 

9.  Ye  toe  righteous:  or,  'innocent.'  Jehu  realizes  that  his 
ferocity  has  overshot  the  mark.  Instead  of  being  overawed,  as 
he  had  intended,  the  people  are  full  of  foreboding  lest  they  should 
be  involved  in  the  guilt  of  so  hideous  a  crime.  So,  to  reassure 
them,  he  accepts  the  responsibility  for  the  murder  of  Jehoram  ; 
but  pretends  that  he  and  they  are  alike  guiltless  of  this  new 
atrocity. 

10.  With  some  inconsistency  he  bids  them  acquiesce  in  the 
signal  verification  of  the  word  spoken  by  Elijah ;     cf.   i    Kings 


330  II    KINGS  10.  11-14.     N 

the  house  of  Ahab :  for  the  Lord  hath  done  that  which 

1 1  he  spake  by  his  servant  EHjah.  So  Jehu  smote  all  that 
remained  of  the  house  of  Ahab  in  Jezreel,  and  all  his 
great  men,  and  his  familiar  friends,  and  his  priests,  until 

12  he  left  him  none  remaining.  And  he  arose  and  departed, 
and  went  to  Samaria.     And  as  he  was  at  the  shearing 

13  house  of  the  shepherds  in  the  way,  Jehu  met  with  the 
brethren  of  Ahaziah  king  of  Judah,  and  said,  Who  are 
ye  ?  And  they  answered,  We  are  the  brethren  of  Ahaziah  : 
and  we  go  down  to  salute  the  children  of  the  king  and 

14  the  children  of  the  queen.  And  he  said,  Take  them 
alive.  And  they  took  them  alive,  and  slew  them  at  the 
pit  of  the  shearing  house,  even  two  and  forty  men ; 
neither  left  he  any  of  them. 

11.  all  his  great  men:  better,  as  LXX  (L),  '  all  his  kinsmen  * 
(the  same  word  as  i  Kings  xvi.  11  ;  see  the  note\ 

12.  There  is  something  amiss  in  the  opening  of  the  verse, 
which  strictly  reads  :  *  And  he  arose  and  came  and  went.'  The 
second  verb  must  either  be  omitted  (as  LXX\  or  put  last  (Pesh.), 
or  altered  so  as  to  be  the  subject  of  the  sentence  :  *  And  Jehu 
arose  and  went.' 

the  shearing  honsc  of  the  shepherds :  a  conjectural  and 
doubtful  rendering  of  a  very  uncertain  phrase.  LXX  treats  it  as 
a  proper  name  :  '  Beth-'Eked  of  the  shepherds  '  ;  and  a  place  Betli 
Kadhas  been  discovered  east  of  Jenin,  but  too  far  off  the  road  to  be 
identified  with  the  locality  here  indicated.  The  Targum  translates, 
*  the  meeting  house  of  the  shepherds,'  a  wayside  inn  or  caravan- 
serai frequented  by  shepherds. 

13.  we  go  down  is  strictly  'we  came  down,'  so  that  it  is 
doubtful  if  they  were  on  their  way  to  Jezreel  (see  below). 

14.  Take  them  alive  :  cf.  i  Kings  xx.  18. 

the  shearing  house  :  or  Beth-'Eked  ;  see  on  verse  12, 
Stade  has  pointed  out  the  improbability  that  the  Judaean  princes 
should  still  be  pursuing  their  journey  northwards  in  ignorance  of 
the  events  of  the  last  few  days,  an  improbability  enhanced  by  the 
fact  that  the  royal  princes  of  Israel  were  in  Samaria,  and  not  in 
Jezreel.  The  incident  would  be  more  intelligible  if  they  had  been 
intercepted  on  tlieir  way  home  ;  and  that  view  is  consistent  with 
the  terms  of  the  section  itself  (see  on  verse  13),  though  not 
perhaps  with  the  position  in  which  it  now  stands. 


II    KINGS  10.  15-17.     N  331 

And  when  he  was  departed  thence,  he  Hghted  on  15 
Jehonadab  the  son  of  Rechab  coming  to  meet  him  :  and 
he  saluted  him,  and  said  to  him.  Is  thine  heart  right,  as 
my  heart  is  with  thy  heart  ?  And  Jehonadab  answered, 
It  is.  If  it  be,  give  me  thine  hand.  And  he  gave  him 
his  hand ;  and  he  took  him  up  to  him  into  the  chariot. 
And  he  said,  Come  with  me,  and  see  my  zeal  for  the  16 
Lord.     So  they  made  him  ride  in  his  chariot.     And  \*j 


X.  15,  16.  Jehu  and  Jehonadab.  On  his  way  to  Samaria  Jehu 
meets  with  Jehonadab  the  son  of  Rechab,  who  was  evidently 
well  known  to  him  by  name  as  an  ardent  champion  of  the  national 
faith.  After  a  brief  exchange  of  sentiments  he  invites  him  to 
ride  with  him  in  the  chariot  and  witness  his  zeal  for  the  worship 
of  Yahweh. 

From  Jer.  xxxv  we  learn  that  Jehonadab  was  the  '  father'  (i.  e. 
the  founder)  of  a  religious  order  called  the  Rechabites,  who  ob- 
served the  rules  imposed  by  him  with  scrupulous  fidelity  down  to 
the  fall  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  The  institution  of  the  order, 
with  its  vows  of  abstinence  from  wine,  from  agriculture,  and  from 
settled  dwellings,  was  clearly  meant  as  a  radical  protest  against 
the  whole  system  of  civilization  which  the  Hebrews  had  inherited 
through  the  conquest  of  Canaan.  That  civilization  was  so  per- 
meated by  the  corrupting  influence  of  Baal-worship,  that  to  men 
like  Jehonadab  there  appeared  no  way  of  preserving  the  purity 
of  the  religion  of  Yahweh  except  a  return  to  the  primitive  sim- 
plicity of  the  nomadic  state.  The  rise  of  such  a  movement  at 
this  juncture  of  the  history  is  a  sign  of  the  profound  and  far- 
reaching  issues  involved  in  the  conflict  between  Yahweh  and 
Baal.  It  shows  that  others  besides  Elijah  felt  that  the  names 
Yahweh  and  Baal  stood  for  two  opposite  and  irreconcileable 
principles  of  religion.  Jehonadab's  extreme  and  one-sided  asser- 
tion of  that  conviction  reveals  the  depth  of  antagonism  which 
rent  the  life  of  the  nation  in  twain  ;  and  it  explains  the  eagerness 
with  which  he  entered  into  the  bloody  measures  planned  by 
Jehu. 

15.  The  question  of  Jehu  should  be  read  as  in  LXX :  *  Is  thy 
heart  honestly  with  my  heart,  as  my  heart  is  with  thy  heart?' 
The  answer  of  Jehonadab  consists  of  the  words  It  is  ;  what 
follows  is  Jehu's  reply  to  him.  The  LXX  makes  this  clear  ; 
*  And  Jehu  said,  If  it  be,'  &c. 

16.  For  they  made  hiia  ride  read  'he  made  him  ride  with 
him.' 


332  11    KINGS  10.  iS-21.     N 

when  he  came  to  Samaria,  he  smote  all  that  remained 
unto  Ahab  in  Samaria,  till  he  had  destroyed  him,  ac- 
cording to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  to 
i8  Elijah.  And  Jehu  gathered  all  the  people  together,  and 
said  unto  them,  Ahab  served  Baal  a  little;   but  Jehu 

19  shall  serve  him  much.  Now  therefore  call  unto  me  all 
the  prophets  of  Baal,  all  his  worshippers,  and  all  his 
priests  ;  let  none  be  wanting  :  for  I  have  a  great  sacrifice 
to  do  to  Baal ;  whosoever  shall  be  wanting,  he  shall  not 
live.     But  Jehu  did  it  in  subtilty,  to  the  intent  that  he 

20  might  destroy  the  worshippers  of  Baal.  And  Jehu  said, 
Sanctify  a  solemn  assembly  for  Baal.     And  they  pro- 

2 1  claimed  it.  And  Jehu  sent  through  all  Israel :  and  all 
the  worshippers  of  Baal  came,  so  that  there  was  not 
a  man  left  that  came  not.  And  they  came  into  the  house 
of  Baal ;  and  the  house  of  Baal  was  filled  from  one  end 


X,  17-27.  Massacre  of  the  Baal-ivorshippcrs.  Arrived  in  Samaria, 
Jehu  first  exterminated  the  remaining  adherents  of  the  house  of 
Ahab.  Then,  under  the  pretext  of  great  zeal  for  the  worship  of 
Baal,  he  planned  a  treacherous  and  decisive  blow  against  the 
devotees  of  that  religion.  On  an  appointed  day  he  assembled  in 
the  temple  of  Baal  a  huge  concourse  of  prophets,  priests  and 
followers  of  the  false  rehgion.  After  taking  steps  to  ensure  that 
no  worshipper  of  Yahweh  was  present,  he  even  went  so  far  as  to 
offer  sacrifice  with  his  own  hand.  But  at  a  given  signal  his 
guards  rushed  in  and  carried  out  their  orders  by  slaying  every  one 
of  the  worshippers.  The  emblems  of  the  foreign  cult  were  all 
destroyed,  and  the  site  of  the  temple  was  desecrated. 

18,  19.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  the  success  which  attended 
Jehu's  somewhat  transparent  ruse.  His  victims  were  perhaps 
more  terrorized  than  duped  ;  being  threatened  with  death  if  they 
absented  themselves,  they  may  have  deemed  it  the  safer  course 
to  disguise  their  suspicions  and  hope  for  the  best.  The  narrative 
reads  more  connectedly  if  (with  Klostermann)  we  delete  the 
words  all  his  worshippers  in  verse  19.  Jehu  first  summons  the 
ciergy  of  the  Baal-religion,  and  then  verse  20)  orders  them  to 
proclaim  the  feast  to  which  all  the  initiated  were  invited. 
^  20.  a  solemn  assemTjly :  Heb.  'azardh.  See  W.  R.  Smith, 
Rel.  o/Scm.'^,  p.  456. 


II    KINGS  10.  22-25.     N  333 

to  another.     And  he  said  unto  him  that  was  over  the  22 
vestry,  Bring  forth  vestments  for  all  the  worshippers  of 
Baal.     And   he   brought   them   forth   vestments.     And  23 
Jehu  went,  and  Jehonadab  the  son  of  Rechab,  into  the 
house  of  Baal ;  and  he  said  unto  the  worshippers  of  Baal, 
Search,  and  look  that  there  be  here  with  you  none  of  the 
servants  of  the  Lord,  but  the  worshippers  of  Baal  only. 
And  they  went  in  to  offer  sacrifices  and  burnt  offerings.  24 
Now  Jehu  had  appointed   him  fourscore  men  without, 
and  said,  If  any  of  the  men  whom  I  bring  into  your 
hands  escape,  he  that  letteth  hivi  go,  his  life  shall  be  for 
the  life  of  him.     And  it  came  to  pass,  as  soon  as  he  had  25 
made  an  end  of  offering  the  burnt  offering,  that  Jehu 
said  to  the  guard  and  to  the  captains.  Go  in,  and  slay 
them ;  let  none  come  forth.     And  they  smote  them  with 
the  edge  of  the  sword ;  and  the  guard  and  the  captains 
cast  them  out,  and  went  to  the  city  of  the  house  of  Baal. 

22.  tlie  vestry.  *  As  regards  the  matter  of  vestments,  it  was 
certainly  an  early  and  widespread  custom  to  make  a  difference 
between  the  dress  of  ordinary  life  and  that  donned  on  sacred 
occasions.  But,  of  course,  the  great  mass  of  people  in  a  poor 
society  could  not  keep  a  special  suit  for  sacred  occasions.  Such 
persons  would  either  wash  their  clothes  after  as  well  as  before 
any  specially  sacred  function,  or  would  have  to  borrow  sacred 
garments  (ibid.  p.  452).  '  At  Mecca  in  the  times  of  heathenism, 
the  sacred  circuit  of  the  Kaaba  was  made  by  the  Bedouin  either 
naked  or  in  clothes  borrowed  from  one  of  the  Horns,  or  religious 
communities  of  the  sacred  city'  (ibid.  p.  451). 

24*.  and  they  went :  LXX,  '  and  he  went ' ;  cf.  verse  25. 

24^*.  The  awkward  construction  which  is  felt  even  in  the 
English  is  to  be  avoided  by  pointing  the  chief  verb  as  a  causative 
{yemallef  for  yimmdlct),  rendering  :  '  The  man  who  lets  any  of 
those  men  escape  whom  I  bring  to  you.  his  life,'  &c. 

25.  the  city  of  the  house  of  Baal  is  quite  unintelligible,  and 
none  of  the  known  meanings  of  the  word  for  '  city  '  gives  an 
appropriate  sense.  Ewald  says  truly  that  it  '  must  mean  much 
the  same  as  the  Holy  of  Holies,'  and  asserts  'that  the  image  of 
the  heathen  god  often  stood  in  a  loft^'  and  dark  enclosure  within 
the   temple,    resembling   a   fortress.'     It   has  been   proposed  to 


334  II    KINGS  10.  26-30.     ND 

26  And  they  brought  forth  the  pillars  thac  were  in  the  house 

27  of  Baal,  and  burned  them.  And  they  brake  down  the 
pillar  of  Baal,  and  brake  down  the  house  of  Baal,  and 

2S  made  it  a   draught   house,   unto  this   day.     [D]   Thus 

29  Jehu  destroyed  Baal  out  of  Israel.  Howbeit  from  the 
sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  wherewith  he  made 
Israel  to  sin,  Jehu  departed  not  from  after  them,  to  ivit^ 
the  golden  calves  that  were  in  Beth-el,  and  that  were  in 

30  Dan.     And  the  Lord  said  unto  Jehu,  Because  thou  hast 


change  the  word  to  dcbir,  the  ancient  name  for  the  inner  shrine  of 
the  temple  (see  on  i  Kings  vi.  i6).  LXX  (L)  has  simply  'the 
temple  of  Baal.' 

26.  the  pillars  that  were  iu  the  house  of  Baal :  LXX  (^  L) 
has  '  the  pillar  of  Baal '  ;  but  since  a  pillar  {mazzebdh)  could  not 
be  burnt  fbeing  of  stonei,  it  is  perhaps  better  to  read:  'the 
'asherah  of  the  house  of  Baal.'  Cf.  i  Kings  xvi.  32,  33,  where 
Ahab  is  said  to  have  erected  both  an  altar  and  an  Asherah  in 
connexion  with  the  worship  of  Baal. 

27.  To  complete  the  correspondence  with  i  Kings  xvi.  32  f.  some 
would  here  change  pillar  to  '  altar.'  But  there  is  no  evidence 
of  direct  dependence  of  the  one  passage  on  the  other  ;  and  if 
there  were,  the  assumed  error  is  just  as  likely  to  have  occurred  in 
the  first  as  in  the  second. 

X.  28-36.  Summary  of  the  Reign  of  Jehu.  The  section  is 
mainly  the  work  of  the  compiler,  although  it  incorporates  an 
account  of  Hazael's  conquests  (verses  32,  33)  which  we  may 
assign  to  the  annals  of  the  kingdom.  In  the  introduction  (verses 
28-31)  we  miss  the  usual  chronological  notices  at  the  beginning 
of  a  reign.  The  omission  is  partly  supplied  in  verse  36,  to  which 
the  Lucianic  version  adds  the  curious  synchronism:  'In  the 
second  year  of  Athaliah,  the  Lord  made  Jehu  the  son  of  Nimshi 
king.'  The  obviously  erroneous  date  is  got  by  reckoning  (on  the 
LXX  system)  backwards  from  xiii.  i ;  allowing  six  years  for 
Athaliah  and  twenty-three  for  Jehoash  on  the  one  side,  and 
twenty-eight  for  Jehu  on  the  other.  We  have  further  to  note  the 
absence  of  the  concluding  formula  of  the  reign  of  Jehoram.  It  is 
not  certain  whether  these  anomalies  are  due  to  the  compiler 
himself,  or  whether,  as  Benzinger  argues,  they  arose  subsequently, 
in  order  to  bring  verse  28  into  immediate  connexion  with  the 
detailed  account  of  Jehu's  reformation  ;^see  above,  p.  317). 

28.  For  Thus  read  simply  *  And.' 


II    KINGS   10.  31  — n.  I.     DKIDKJ         335 

done  well  in  executing  that  which  is  right  in  mine  eyes, 
ajid  hast  done  unto  the  house  of  Ahab  according  to  all 
that  was  in  mine  heart,  thy  sons  of  the  fourth  generation 
shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  Israel.  But  Jehu  took  no  heed  31 
to  walk  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  with 
all  his  heart :  he  departed  not  from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam, 
wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin. 

[KI]  In  those  days  the  Lord  began  to  cut  Israel  short :  32 
and  Hazael  smote  them  in  all  the  coasts  of  Israel ;  from  33 
Jordan  eastward,  all  the  land  of  Gilead,  the  Gadites,  and 
the  Reubenites,  and  the  Manassites,  from  Aroer,  which 
is  by  the  valley  of  Arnon,   even  Gilead  and  Bashan. 
[D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jehu,  and  all  that  he  34 
did,  and  all  his  might,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book 
of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ?    And  Jehu  slept  35 
with  his  fathers  :  and  they  buried  him  in  Samaria.     And 
Jehoahaz  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.     And  the  time  36 
that  Jehu  reigned  over  Israel  in  Samaria  was  twenty  and 
eight  years. 

[KJ]  Now  when  Athaliah  the  mother  of  Ahaziah  saw  II 

32,  33.  On  Hazael's  wars  against  Israel,  see  viii.  12,  Amos  i.  3. 
This  renewed  activity  on  the  part  of  the  Syrians  coincides  with 
a  cessation  of  the  Assyrian  attacks  on  Damascus  after  839  B.C. 
Jehu  had  aheady,  in  842,  put  himself  under  the  protection  of 
Shalmaneser  II,  but  Hazael  twice  offered  a  successful  resistance 
to  the  attempt  of  that  monarch  to  subdue  his  capital,  and  was  able 
to  direct  his  whole  force  against  his  weaker  western  neighbour. 
The  first  clause  of  verse  33  should  be  connected  with  verse  32 : 
'all  the  territory  of  Israel  from  Jordan  eastward.' 

Aroer  (now  'Ard't'r)  is  situated  a  little  north  of  the  Arnon 
{Wadi  Moj'ib),    and  about   eleven  miles  from   its   mouth   at   the 
middle  of  the  east  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea.     The  other  geographi- 
cal names  are  familiar, 
xi.    The  Revolution  injudah.    (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxii.  10— xxiii.  2t.) 

The  centre  of  interest  is  now  transferred  to  the  kingdom  of 
Judah,  whose  less  eventful  history  assumes  a  sudden  importance 


336  II    KINGS  11.  2.     KJ 

that  her  son  was  dead,  she  arose  and  destroyed  all  the 
2  seed  royal.    But  Jehosheba,  the  daughter  of  king  Joram, 

from  its  belated  share  in  the  religious  revolution  just  accomplished 
in  Ephraim.  Through  the  close  political  and  dynastic  ties  between 
the  two  kingdoms  the  public  worship  of  the  Tyrian  Baal  had  been 
introduced  in  Jerusalem  (xi.  i8)  ;  and  Athaliah,  the  last  survivor 
of  Ahab's  house,  succeeded  for  six  years  in  maintaining  the  family 
tradition  against  the  better  mind  of  the  nation.  But  the  crisis, 
though  deferred,  could  not  be  averted  ;  and  if  its  course  was 
somewhat  more  constitutional  than  the  parallel  movement  in  the 
north,  there  lay  behind  it  the  same  great  force — the  uprising  of 
national  sentiment  against  the  heathenish  tendencies  of  the  court. 
It  is  instructive  to  observe  that  whereas  in  Israel  the  chief  agitators 
on  behalf  of  the  true  religion  had  been  the  prophets,  in  Judah  the 
revolution  was  directed  by  the  temple  priesthood.  These  external 
differences,  however,  do  not  obscure  the  fact  that  the  events  now 
to  be  considered  were  a  phase  and  outcome  of  the  religious  conflict 
initiated  by  Elijah. 

In  chaps.  xi,xiithecompiler  for  the  first  time  incorporates  lengthy 
documents  in  his  history  of  the  southern  kingdom.  These  Judaean 
narratives  are  commonly  supposed  to  be  based  on  official  records  ; 
and,  as  literature,  are  certainly  inferior  to  the  best  of  the 
Israelitish  sources.  Whether  in  the  present  passage  one  or 
more  such  documents  have  been  used  is  not  quite  clear.  In  the 
latter  part  of  ch.  xi  there  are  certain  incongruities  which  appear 
to  indicate  composite  authorship,  e.  g.  the  double  mention  of 
Athaliah's  death,  the  account  of  the  demolition  of  the  Baal- 
temple  before  the  enthronement  of  the  king,  &c.  These  anomalies 
are  best  explained  by  the  theory  of  Stade,  that  verses  13-18^  are 
a  fragment  of  a  second  account  which  has  been  inserted  in  the 
main  narrative  '5-12,  i8''-2o\  Similar  instances  of  interwoven 
narratives  in  the  compiler's  sources  have  already  come  before  us 
(e.  g.  I  Kings  xi.  14  ff.)  ;  and  the  probability  is  that  ch.  xi  here  is 
an  extract  from  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  Judah. 

xi.  1-3.  Athaliah  seizes  the  Throne.  On  hearing  of  the  death 
of  Ahaziah,  the  queen-mother  Athaliah  (viii.  26)  destroyed  all  the 
males  of  the  royal  house  of  Judah,  and  reigned  in  her  own  name 
for  six  years.  Unknown  to  her,  however,  Jehoash  (Joash),  an 
infant  son  of  the  late  king,  had  been  saved  from  the  massacre,  and 
was  kept  in  concealment  in  the  temple,  under  the  protection  of 
Jehosheba,  a  sister  of  Ahaziah,  and  her  husband  Jehoiada  the 
chief  priest.  The  regency  of  Athaliah  is  treated  by  the  compiler 
as  a  sort  of  interregnum,  and  hence  is  not  enclosed  by  the  usual 
introductory  and  concluding  formulas. 


II    KINGS  11.3,4.     KJ  337 

sister  of  Ahaziah,  look  Joash  the  son  of  Ahaziah,  and 
stole  him  away  from  among  the  king's  sons  that  were 
slain,  even  him  and  his  nurse,  and  put  thetn  in  the  bed- 
chamber; and  they  hid  him  from  AthaHah,  so  that  he  was 
not  skiin.  And  he  was  with  her  hid  in  the  house  of  the  3 
Lord  six  years  :  and  Athaliah  reigned  over  the  land. 

And  in  the  seventh  year  Jehoiada  sent  and  fetched  the  4 
captains  over  hundreds,  of  the  Carites  and  of  the  guard, 

a.  Jehosheba  was,  as  we  learn  from  2  Chron.  xxii.  11,  the  wife 
of  Jehoiada  the  priest.  The  words  even  him  and  his  nurse  are 
probably  a  gloss  (Stade),  the  sentence  having  read  originally: 
'from  among  the  king's  sons  that  were  to  be  slain  in  the  bed- 
chamber' (cf.  however,  the  expression  in  2  Chron.  xxii.  ii). 

3.  For  with  her,  Chronicles  has  'with  them';  i.e.  Jehosheba 
and  her  husband. 

xi.  4-20.  Pfodamation  of  Joash  and  Death  of  Athaliah.  After 
six  years  Jehoiada  thought  that  the  time  had  come  to  overthrow 
the  usurping  queen  and  place  the  legitimate  heir  on  the  throne. 
He  took  into  his  confidence  the  officers  of  the  palace  guard, 
showing  them  the  young  prince,  and  submitting  to  them  a  care- 
fully considered  plan  of  action,  which  they  solemnly  pledged 
themselves  to  carry  out.  In  accordance  with  this  arrangement 
the  whole  of  the  palace  troops  were  assembled  in  the  temple  on 
a  given  sabbath  ;  the  boy  king  was  crowned  with  all  the  customary 
formalities,  and  hailed  with  acclamation  by  the  guards.  Athaliah, 
who  on  hearing  the  tumult  had  hastened  to  the  temple,  was  by 
Jehoiada's  orders  conducted  beyond  the  sacred  precincts  and  put 
to  death.  The  king  and  people  then  renewed  their  allegiance  to 
Yahweh  in  a  solemn  covenant ;  the  temple  of  Baal  was  destroyed  ; 
and  Joash  without  further  disturbance  was  firmly  established  on 
the  throne. 

Following  Stade's  analysis  of  the  passage  (p.  336  above),  we  see 
that  the  writer  of  the  main  account  (verses  4-12,  18^^-20)  ignores 
the  religious  aspect  of  the  affair,  representing  it  as  a  political  coup 
d'etat,  carried  through  by  the  help  of  the  royal  bodyguard.  The 
religious  and  popular  character  of  the  movement  is  emphasized  in 
the  parallel  fragment  (verses  13-18*),  to  which  belongs  also  the 
more  dramatic  account  of  Athaliah's  death.  The  amalgamation 
of  the  documents  had  certainly  been  made  before  the  time  of 
the  chronicler,  whose  whole  treatment  of  the  incident  affords  a 
characteristic  example  of  the  freedom  with  which  he  accommodates 
the  facts  of  history  to  the  law  and  usage  of  his  own  time. 

4.  the  Carites  were  foreign  mercenaries  employed  as  body- 


338  II    KINGS  11.  5-7.     KJ 

and  brought  them  to  him  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  } 
and  lie  made  a  covenant  with  them,  and  took  an  oath  of 
them  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  shewed  them  the 

5  king's  son.  And  he  commanded  them,  saying,  This  is 
the  thing  that  ye  shall  do  :  a  third  part  of  you,  that  come 
in  on  the  sabbath^  shall  be  keepers  of  the  watch  of  the 

6  king's  house ;  and  a  third  part  shall  be  at  the  gate  Sur ; 
and  a  third  part  at  the  gate  behind  the  guard :  so  shall 

7  ye  keep  the  watch  of  the  house,  and  be  a  barrier.  And 
the  two  companies  of  you,  even  all  that  go  forth  on  the 
sabbath,  shall  keep  the  watch  of  the  house  of  the  Lord 

guards  by  the  kings  of  Judah,  like  the  Krethi  and  Plethi  in  the 
time  of  Solomon  (see  on  i  Kings  i.  38).  It  is  important  to  notice 
that  the  same  body  of  troops  furnished  the  guard  both  for  the 
palace  and  the  temple.  The  presence  of  these  *  uncircumcized 
foreigners'  was  obnoxious  to  the  later  conception  of  the  sanctity 
of  the  temple  (see  especially  Ezek.  xliv.  6ff.);  hence  in  the 
narrative  of  2  Chron.  their  place  is  taken  by  Levites  assembled 
from  all  the  cities  of  Judah. 

took  an  oath  .  .  .  ZiOl&D :   or,   '  made  them  swear  by  the 
house  ofYahweh'  (cf.  Matt,  xxiii.  16). 

shewed  them  ths  king's  son :  of  whose  existence  they  had 
of  course  been  ignorant. 

5-8.  These  directions  to  the  centurions  presupposes  a  know- 
ledge of  the  routine  observed  in  the  disposition  of  the  guards, 
which  we  unfortunately  do  not  possess.  What  appears  the  best 
explanation  was  first  given  by  Wellhausen.  The  guard  was 
divided  into  three  companies.  On  week  days  two  of  these 
were  on  duty  in  the  palace  and  the  third  in  the  temple.  On  the 
sabbath  the  order  was  reversed,  two  companies  being  on  guard  in 
the  temple  and  one  in  the  palace.  The  essential  feature  of 
Jehoiada's  scheme  is  the  assembling  of  the  whole  guard  within 
the  temple  at  the  critical  time,  so  as  to  leave  the  palace  entirely 
denuded  of  troops.  For  this  purpose  he  chooses  the  moment 
when  on  the  sabbath  the  two  companies  have  come  up  from  the 
palace  to  relieve  the  third,  which  ought  immediately  to  return  to 
its  quarters.  By  detaining  this  third  division  he  attains  his  end  : 
the  whole  guard  (as  verse  9  clearly  shows)  is  present,  and  takes 
part  in  the  coronation  of  the  king.  The  only  obstacle  to  this 
interpretation  lies  in  verse  6;  but  that  verj'  obscure  verse  appears 
on  any  view  irreconcileable  with  verse  9,  and  must  be  omitted  as 


II   KINGS  11.  8-12.     KJ  339 

about  the  king.     And  ye  shall  compass  the  king  round   8 
about,  every  man  with  his  weapons  in  his  hand ;  and  he 
that  Cometh  within  the  ranks,  let  him  be  slain :  and  be 
ye  with  the  king  when  he  goeth  out,  and  when  he  cometh 
in.     And  the  captains  over  hundreds  did  according  to  9 
all  that  Jehoiada  the  priest  commanded  :  and  they  took 
every  man  his  men,  those  that  were  to  come  in  on  the 
sabbath,  with  those  that  were  to  go  out  on  the  sabbath, 
and  came  to  Jehoiada  the  priest.     And  the  priest  de-  10 
livered  to  the  captains  over  hundreds  the  spears  and 
shields  that  had  been  king  David's,  which  were  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord.     And  the  guard  stood,  every  man  11 
with  his  weapons  in  his  hand,  from  the  right  side  of  the 
house  to  the  left  side  of  the  house,  along  by  the  altar 
and  the  house,   by  the   king   round   about.     Then  he  12 
brought  out  the  king's  son,  and  put  the  crown  upon  him, 

a  gloss.  With  this  excision,  and  some  minor  changes  of  text,  the 
passage  may  be  translated  as  follows :  '  The  third  part  of  you — 
those  that  turn  in  [to  their  barracks  in  the  palace]  on  the  sabbath 
and  keep  guard  in  the  palace  ;  and  the  two  other  companies  of 
you — all  those  that  turn  out  [from  their  barracks]  on  the  sabbath 
and  keep  guard  in  the  temple :  ye  shall  compass  the  king/  &c. 

when  he  goeth  out  (i.  e.  from  the  temple),  and .  .  .  cometh 
in  (to  the  palace)  :  see  verse  19. 

10.  Ewald  makes  the  interesting  suggestion  that  the  weapons 
were  David's  own  spear  and  shield,  which  had  been  preserved  as 
relics  in  the  temple,  and  perhaps  played  some  part  at  every 
coronation  ceremony  :  'it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  in 
the  original  narrative  the  soldiers  of  the  captains  came  to  the 
temple  without  weapons,  and  that  there  the  high  priest  distributed 
the  weapons  of  David  to  them  through  the  captains.'  More 
probably,  however,  the  verse  is  a  gloss  introduced  from  2  Chron., 
where  it  has  a  meaning  as  applied  to  the  arming  of  the  Leviies  for 
a  particular  occasion. 

11.  The  meaning  seems  to  be  that  the  guards  were  drawn  up 
in  ranks  right  across  the  court  from  south  to  north,  and  facing  the 
altar  and  the  temple.  The  phrase  by  the  king-  round  ahout 
cannot  possibly  be  correct,  since  the  king  had  not  yet  been 
brought  out. 

Z    2 


340  II    KINGS  11.  13-16.     KJ 

and  ^i^ave  him  the  testimony  ;  and  they  made  him  king, 
and  anointed  him ;  and  they  clapped  their  hands,  and 

13  said,  God  save  the  king.  And  when  Athaliah  heard  the 
noise  of  the  guard  and  of  the  people,  she  came  to  the 

14  people  into  the  house  of  the  Lord:  and  she  looked, 
and,  behold,  the  king  stood  by  the  pillar,  as  the  manner 
was,  and  the  captains  and  the  trumpets  by  the  king; 
and  all  the  people  of  the  land  rejoiced,  and  blew  with 
trumpets.     Then  Athaliah  rent  her  clothes,  and  cried, 

15  Treason,  treason.  And  Jehoiada  the  priest  commanded 
the  captains  of  hundreds  that  were  set  over  the  host,  and 
said  unto  them,  Have  her  forth  between  the  ranks ;  and 
him  that  followeth  her  slay  with  the  sword :  for  the 
priest  said,  Let  her  not  be  slain  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

16  So  they  made  way  for  her ;  and  she  went  by  the  way  of 


12.  and  gave  him  the  testimony:  i.e.  the  law-book,  which 
was  supposed  to  be  handed  to  the  king  at  his  coronation.  But 
there  is  no  evidence  of  any  such  custom  ;  and  context  and  con- 
struction ahke  demand  that  some  part  of  the  regalia  should  be 
indicated.  We  may  read  with  Wellhausen.  'and  the  bracelets^' 
(see  2  Sam.  i.  10),  or,  'and  the  ornaments-'  (Oort). 

13.  Here  we  enter  on  the  second  narrative,  in  which  the 
influential  part  is  played,  not  by  the  guard  and  its  centurions,  but 
by  the  people  under  its  military  leaders.  The  word  for  the  guard 
in  this  verse  appears  from  its  ungrammatical  position  in  the  Hebrew 
to  be  a  harmonizing  gloss  to  '  people,'  carelessly  inserted  to  connect 
the  narrative  with  the  preceding. 

14.  by  the  pillar  :  apparently  the  spot  where  the  king  usually 
stood  when  he  worshipped  in  the  temple  (cf.  xxiii.  3).  Whether 
it  was  by  one  of  the  great  entrance  pillars,  Jachin  and  Boaz,  we 
cannot  tell. 

15.  the  captains  of  hundreds:  probably  another  insertion 
borrowed  from  the  other  document  (verses  4.  9,  10;.  The  clause 
immediately  following  should  be  rendered :  '  the  commanders  of 
the  army.' 

16.  they  made  way  for  her  :  better,  '  they  laid  hands  on  her.' 


*  Reading  T\yys^x\  for  T\'\'\sr\,  ^  Dviyn. 


II   KINGS    11.  17-20.     KJ  341 

the  horses'  entry  to  the  king's  house :  and  there  was  she 
slain. 

And  Jehoiada  made  a  covenant  between  the  Lord  17 
and  the  king  and  the  people,  that  they  should  be  the 
Lord's  people;  between  the  king  also  and  the  people. 
And  all  the  people  of  the  land  went  to  the  house  of  Baal,  18 
and  brake  it  down ;  his  altars  and  his  images  brake  they 
in  pieces  thoroughly,  and  slew  Mattan  the  priest  of  Baal 
before  the  altars.     And  the  priest  appointed  officers  over 
the  house  of  the  Lord.     And  he  took  the  captains  over  19 
hundreds,  and  the  Carites,  and  the  guard,  and  all  the 
people  of  the  land;   and  they  brought  down  the  king 
from  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  came  by  the  way  of  the 
gate  of  the  guard  unto  the  king's  house.     And  he  sat  on 
the  throne  of  the  kings.     So  all  the  people  of  the  land  20 
rejoiced,  and  the  city  was  quiet :  and  they  slew  Athaliah 
with  the  sword  at  the  king's  house. 


the  horses'  entry:    as  distinguished  from  the  'gate  of  the 
foot-guards '  (verse  19). 

17.  The  covenant  has  two  sides  :  it  establishes  fi)  a  religious 
relation  between  Yahweh  on  the  one  part  and  the  king  and 
people  on  the  other — they  are  to  be  'a  people  of  Yahweh  '  ;  and 
(2)  a  political  relation  between  the  king  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
people  on  the  other  (cf.  xxiii.  3). 

18  *.  The  revolution  culminates,  according  to  this  account,  in 
the  abolition  of  Baal- worship  in  Jerusalem. 

Mattan  is  a  contraction  of  Mattan-Baal  (gift  of  Baal),  a  name 
common  in  Phoenician  (KA  T^,  p,  io4\ 

18''  is  the  immediate  continuation  of  verse  12  in  the  principal 
narrative.     For  officers  render  *  guards.' 

19.  Leaving  these  guards  to  keep  order  in  the  temple  court, 
Jehoiada  leads  the  main  bod}'  down  to  the  palace  to  complete  the 
installation  of  the  king  in  the  usual  manner  ( cf  i  Kings  i.  35,  46). 
The  fifate  of  the  [foot-] guards  was  doubtless  that  through  which 
the  king  regularly  passed  from  the  temple  to  the  palace  and  back 
again,  accompanied  by  his  bodyguard  (see  i  Kings  xiv.  28). 

20.  the  city  was  quiet :  the  change  of  government  being 
acceptable  to  all  classes. 


342  II    KINGS    11.21—12.4.     DJ 

21      [D]  Jehoash  was  seven  years  old  when  he  began  to 

12  reign.     In  the  seventh  year  of  Jehu  began  Jehoash  to 

reign ;  and  he  reigned  forty  years  in  Jerusalem  :  and  his 

2  mother's  name  was  Zibiah  of  Beer-sheba.     And  Jehoash 

did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  all  his 

?,  days  wherein  Jehoiada  the  priest  instructed  him.  Howbeit 

the  high  places  were  not  taken  away :   the  people  still 

sacrificed  and  burnt  incense  in  the  high  places. 

4      [J]  And  Jehoash  said  to  the  priests,  All  the  money  of 

xii.  Jehoash  ofjiidah.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxiv.) 
xi.  21 — xii.  3[=  Hebrew,  xii.  1-4 J.  Introditcto>y  Notice.  The  com- 
piler is  not  likely  to  have  been  responsible  for  the  transposition 
of  the  first  two  clauses  of  the  formula.  LXX  (L)  gives  them  in 
the  proper,  and  doubtless  original,  order  :  first  the  synchronism 
(xii.  I,  down  to  *  reign'),  and  thea  the  age  of  accession  (xi.  21). 
It  is  tills  irregularity  which  has  caused  the  divergence  between 
the  Hebrew  printed  editions  and  the  E.  V.  in  the  numbering  of 
the  verses  :  the  latter  has  been  guided  by  the  consideration  that 
the  synchronism  regularly  opens  a  new  section. 

1.  the  seventh  year  of  Jehu:  see  xi.  4.  Jehoash,  therefore, 
must  have  been  under  a  year  old  at  the  time  of  the  massacre. 
On  an  irregularity  in  the  synchronism,  see  on  xiii.  i. 

2.  wherein  Jehoiada,  &c. :  rather,  *  forasmuch  as  .  .  .'  The 
relative  clause  is  anyhow  not  restrictive  ;  for  the  compiler  cer- 
tainly means  that  Jehoash  was  a  good  king  all  his  days  (see  xiv. 
3).  It  is  only  the  chronicler  who,  finding  evidence  of  apostasy 
in  the  later  troubles  of  his  reign,  limits  his  pietj'  to  the  lifetime 
of  Jehoiada  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  2). 

3.  See  on  i  Kings  iii.  2,  3. 

xii.  4-16  [s=  Hebrew,  xii.  5-17].  Repair  of  the  Temple,  The  pas- 
sage describes  the  origin  of  certain  standing  regulations  for  the 
repair  of  the  temple,  which  remained  in  force  probably  down  to 
the  Exile  (see  ch.  xxii).  In  the  earlier  period  the  maintenance  of 
the  fabric  had  presumably  been  a  charge  on  the  royal  exchequer  ; 
and  it  is  likely  that  the  arrangements  introduced  b}'  Jehoash  re- 
present the  first  attempt  to  throw  the  expense  on  the  public,  and 
make  the  temple  self-supporting.  The  first  method  tried  was  to 
entrust  the  priests  with  the  collecting  cf  the  temple-dues  and 
voluntary  offerings  of  the  people,  and  hold  them  responsible 
for  all  needful  repairs.  But  after  some  years  it  was  found  that 
the  priests  had  neglected  their  obligations ;    and  a  new  system 


II  KINGS  12.  4.     J  343 

the  hallowed  things  that  is  brought  into  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  in  current  money,  the  money  of  the  persons  for 
whom  each  man  is  rated,  and  all  the  money  that  it 

had  to  be  devised.  The  priests  were  reheved  of  the  duty  of  re- 
pairing tlie  house,  and  also  of  the  privilege  of  collecting  the 
money ;  they  were  ordered  to  put  all  their  receipts  into  a  chest 
provided  for  the  purpose,  whose  contents  were  to  be  removed 
from  time  to  time  by  a  palace  official,  and  paid  directly  to  those 
who  had  the  oversight  of  the  work.  This  plan  seems  to  have 
worked  admirably— a  fact  little  creditable  to  the  priesthood,  for  it 
is  expressly  attributed  to  the  superior  conscientiousness  of  the 
laymen  who  handled  the  money  over  their  clerical  brethren. 
The  chronicler  gives  a  different  version  :  in  particular  he  avoids 
anything  reflecting  on  the  honour  of  the  priests,  and  only  records 
a  mild  censure  on  the  Levites  for  remissness  in  the  performance 
of  their  allotted  task. 

Wellhausen  rightly  calls  attention  to  a  close  resemblance  in 
style  and  matter  between  this  section  and  chs.  xxii,  xxiii ;  and 
infers  that  both  passages  (along  with  xi.  5  ff .  and  xvi.  10  ff.)  are 
extracted  from  a  continuous  History  of  the  Temple,  written 
towards  the  end  of  the  seventh  century^.  That,  however,  is 
perhaps  a  too  narrow  conception  of  the  writer's  standpoint :  it 
is  applicable  to  xii,  4  ff.  and  xvi.  10  ff.,  where  the  interest  is  con- 
centrated on  the  affairs  of  the  temple  itself;  but  hardly  to  chs.  xi 
or  xxii,  xxiii,  which  deal  with  important  national  transactions 
of  which  the  temple  happened  to  be  the  scene.  All  that  can 
safely  be  said  is  that  the  document  (or  documents)  reveals  the 
prominent  place  naturally  occupied  by  the  temple  and  its  priest- 
hood in  the  history  of  the  southern  kingdom.  There  seems  really 
no  need  to  look  for  any  other  source  than  the  book  of  the  chroni- 
cles of  Judah  (see  Introd.  pp.  25,  29). 

4.  the  money  of  the  hallowed  things,  &c.,  includes  all  money 
payments  that  came  into  the  temple  treasury  ;  and  these  are  of 
two  kinds  :  (i)  assessments  imposed  by  the  priests  according  to 
a  fixed  tariff,  and  (2)  free-will  offerings.  Instead  of  in  current 
money,  we  must  read  with  LXX  (L)  *  the  money  of  each  man's 
assessment.'  The  following  clause,  the  money  . . .  rated,  is  merely 
an  explanatory  gloss,  modelled  on  the  technical  terminology  of 
the  Priestly  Code.  An  illustration  of  what  is  meant  is  supplied 
by  Lev.  xxvii.  2  ff.,  where  the  tariff  by  which  persons  dedicated 
to  Yahweh  were  assessed,  according  to  age  and  sex,  is  given. 

^  To  the  same  source  he  is  inclined  to  assign  the  description  of  ti.e 
temple  buildings  in  i  Kings  vi,  vii. 


344  II    KINGS  12.  5-9.     J 

Cometh  into  any  man's  heart  to  bring  into  the  house  of 
5  the  Lord,  let  the  priests  take  it  to  them,  every  man  from 

his  acquaintance :  and  they  shall  repair  the  breaches  of 
C  the  house,  wheresoever  any  breach  shall  be  found.     But 

it  was  so,  that  in  the  three  and  twentieth  year  of  king 

Jehoash  the  priests  had  not  repaired  the  breaches  of  the 

7  house.  Then  king  Jehoash  called  for  Jehoiada  the 
priest,  and  for  the  of/ier  priests,  and  said  unto  them, 
Why  repair  ye  not  the  breaches  of  the  house  ?  now 
therefore  take  no  more  money  from  your  acquaintance, 

8  but  deliver  it  for  the  breaches  of  the  house.  And  the 
priests  consented  that  they  should  take  no  7nore  money 
from  the  people,  neither  repair  the  breaches  of  the  house. 

9  But  Jehoiada  the  priest  took  a  chest,  and  bored  a  hole 
in  the  lid  of  it,  and  set  it  beside  the  altar,  on  the  right 
side  as  one  cometh  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  and  the 

The  other  class  of  oflTerings  is  described  in  the  last  clause  of  the 
verse  :  all  the  money  that  it  cometh,  &c. 

5.  Out  of  the  money  thus  received  the  priests  were  to  defray 
the  cost  of  repairs.  The  word  for  acctuaiutance  (which  occurs 
only  here)  is  of  doubtful  meaning  :  it  is  hardly  credible  that 
each  priest  dealt  only  with  his  own  personal  friends. 

6,  7.  On  discovering  how  the  stipulated  obligation  had  been 
evaded,  Jehoash  takes  the  whole  body  of  the  priests  to  task  for 
their  delinquency.  The  incident  throws  an  instructive  light  on 
the  position  of  the  priesthood  in  pre-Exilic  times.  The  king  is 
the  real  head  of  the  sanctuary,  which  is  still,  in  spite  of  its  in- 
creasing importance  for  the  public  religion,  primaril}-  the  royal 
chapel ;  and  the  priests  exercise  over  it  only  a  delegated  authority 
(of.  xvi.  10  ff.). 

9.  beside  the  altar  .  .  .  right  side :  the  altar  was  in  the 
middle  of  the  court,  whereas  the  natural  position  of  a  chest  which 
was  in  charge  of  the  priests  that  kept  the  threshold  (marg.) 
would  be  near  the  entrance  (so  2  Chron  xxiv.  8).  Hence  Stade, 
on  the  authority  of  some  MSS.  of  the  LXX,  would  change  altar 
{mizbedh)  to  inazsebalt,  assuming  that  a  mazzebah  stood  some- 
where near  the  gate.  A  better  sense  is  given  by  a  purelj'  con- 
jectural emendation  of  Klostermann  :  '  near  the  southern  (right 
hand)  door-post.' 


II   KINGS  12.  10-16.     J  345 

priests  that  kept  the  door  put  therein  all  the  money  that 
was  brought  into  the  house  of  the  Lord.     And  it  was  so,  10 
when  they  saw  that  there  was  much  money  in  the  chest, 
that  the  king's  scribe  and  the  high  priest  came  up,  and 
they  put  up  in  bags  and  told  the  money  that  was  found 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord.     And  they  gave  the  money  n 
that  was  weighed  out  into  the  hands  of  them  that  did  the 
work,  that  had  the  oversight  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  : 
and  they  paid  it  out  to  the  carpenters  and  the  builders, 
that  wrought  upon  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the  12 
masons  and  the  hewers  of  stone,  and  for  buying  timber 
and  hewn  stone  to  repair  the  breaches  of  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  and  for  all  that  was  laid  out  for  the  house  to 
repair  it.     But  there  were  not  made  for  the  house  of  the  i.^ 
Lord   cups   of  silver,   snuffers,    basons,    trumpets,   any 
vessels  of  gold,  or  vessels  of  silver,  of  the  money  that 
was  brought  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  for  they  gave  14 
that  to  them  that  did  the  work^  and  repaired  therewith 
the  house  of  the  Lord,     Moreover  they  reckoned  not  15 
with  the  men,  into  whose  hand  they  delivered  the  money 
to   give   to   them   that   did   the  work :    for  they   dealt 
faithfully.     The  money  for  the  guilt  offerings,  and  the  16 


tliat    kept  the   threshold :    evidently   an   important   office : 
of,  xxii.  4,  xxiii.  4,  xxv.  18,  Jer.  xxxv.  4. 

10.  and  tlie  higrh  priest  is  thought  by  some  to  be  an  inter- 
polation. Throughout  the  passage  Jehoiada  is  simply  called  '  the 
priest ' ;  and  it  is  doubted  if  the  title  here  used  {hakkdhm 
haggdddl)  is  anjrwhere  genuine  in  pre-Exilic  writings  (see  on 
xxii.  4). 

11,  12.  The  list  of  artificers  conveys  some  notion  of  the  dilapi- 
dated condition  of  the  edifice. 

13,  14.  On  the  utensils,  see  1  Kings  vii.  50.  There  was  no 
money  to  spare  for  the  renewal  of  these  vessels,  the  whole  being 
required  for  more  urgent  structural  repairs. 

16.  Two  classes  of  offerings  were  exempted  from  the  regula- 
tions just  described,  and  remained  the  perquisites  of  the  priests, 


346  II    KINGS  12.  17-20.     J  K J  D 

money  for  the  sin  offerings,  was  not  brought  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord  :  it  was  the  priests'. 

17  [KJ]  Then  Hazael  king  of  Syria  went  up,  and  fought 
against  Gath,  and  took  it :  and  Hazael  set  his  face  to  go 

18  up  to  Jerusalem.  And  Jehoash  king  of  Judah  took  all 
the  hallowed  things  that  Jehoshaphat,  and  Jehoram,  and 
Ahaziah,  his  fathers,  kings  of  Judah,  had  dedicated,  and 
his  own  hallowed  things,  and  all  the  gold  that  was  found 
in  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  of  the 
king's  house,  and  sent  it  to  Hazael  king  of  Syria :  and 

19  he  went  away  from  Jerusalem.  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the 
acts  of  Joash,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in 

20  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah?  And 
his  servants  arose,  and  made  a  conspiracy,  and  smote 
Joash  at  the  house  of  Millo,  on  the  way  that  goeth  down 

viz.  the  gmlt  offerings  and  the  sin  offering's.  These  represen- 
ted money  payments  for  certain  ritual  offences,  probably  those 
atoned  for  at  a  later  time  by  the  special  kinds  of  sacrifice  de- 
signated by  the  same  names  (cf.  Lev.  iv,  v.  See  W.  R.  Smith, 
OTJC^,  p.  263  f.  ;  Rcl.  of  Sem.  2,  pp.  347  f.,  423). 

xii.  17,  18  [=  Hebrew,  xii.  18,  19].  Hazael  threatens  Jei'iisalcm. 
We  have  here  an  extract  from  the  annals  of  Judah.  The  redoubt- 
able Hazael,  extending  his  ravages  from  Israel  (x.  32,  xiii.  3)  to 
the  Philistine  territory,  captures  the  city  of  Gath  (see  on  i  Kings  ii. 
39),  and  has  Jerusalem  at  his  mercy.  In  order  to  save  the 
capital  Jehoash  was  obliged  to  hand  over  all  the  consecrated  gifts 
that  had  accumulated  in  the  temple  and  palace  treasuries  since 
they  had  been  emptied  for  a  similar  purpose  in  the  time  of  Asa 
(i  Kings  XV.  18). 

xii.  19-21  [=  Hebrew,  xii.  20-22].  Concluding  Formula,  A ssassi- 
jtation  of  Jehoash.  It  is  remarkable  that  Jehoash  and  his  son 
Amaziah  both  perished  by  the  hands  of  assassins.  No  motive  is  here 
assigned  for  the  crime  ;  but  the  chronicler  credibl^'^  relates  that 
it  was  in  revenge  for  the  execution  of  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoi- 
ada,  whom  Jehoash  had  caused  to  be  stoned  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  25, 
26).  Verses  20,  21''  are  probably  taken  from  the  annalistic 
document. 

20.  the  house  of  Millo  .  .  .  Silla :  hopelessly  corrupt.     The 


II    KINGS  12.  21— 13.  4.     DKIZ  347 

to  Silla.     For  Jozacar  the  son  of  Shimeath,  and  Jeho-  21 
zabad  the  son  of  Shomer,  his  servants,  smote  him,  and 
he  died;   and  they  buried  him  with  his  fathers  in  the 
city  of  David  :  and  Amaziah  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

In  the  three  and  twentieth  year  of  Joash  the  son  of  13 
Ahaziah,  king  of  Judah,  Jehoahaz  the  son  of  Jehu  began 
to  reign  over  Israel  in  Samaria,  and  reigned  seventeen 
years.     And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  2 
the  Lord,  and  followed  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of 
Nebat,  wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin ;  he  departed 
not  therefrom.     [KI]  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was   3 
kindled  against  Israel,  and  he  delivered  them  into  the 
hand  of  Hazael  king  of  Syria,  and  into  the  hand  of  Bcn- 
hadad  the  son  of  Hazael,  continually.     [Z]  And  Jeho-  4 

one  proper  name  may  be  a  variant  of  the  other  ;  but  a  place  Silla 
is  not  known,  and  it  is  altogether  doubtful  if  the  '  house  of  Millo  ' 
has  anything  to  do  with  '  the  Millo'  of  i  Kings  ix.  15,  &c. 

xiii.   1-9.     Jehoahaz  of  Israel. 

The  section  is  in  the  main  from  the  hand  of  the  compiler,  though 
the  description  of  the  Sj'rian  oppression  in  verses  3  and  7  may 
be  based  on  data  from  the  official  annals.  The  intermediate  verses 
(4-6)  are  very  perplexing  (see  below).  They  anticipate  the 
recovery  of  Israel  under  Jehoash  and  Jeroboam  II,  but  in  such 
a  way  as  to  convey  the  erroneous  impression  that  the  tide  began 
to  turn  during  the  reign  of  Jehoahaz  (cf.  verse  22 ff).  On  the 
contrary,  the  military  power  of  Israel  was  completely  shattered, 
and  she  lay  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  her  hereditary  foe  throughout 
the  reign. 

1.  the  three  and  twentieth  year.  The  synchronism  is  correct 
according  to  the  ordinary  Hebrew  computation,  though  at  variance 
with  xii.  I  (if  twenty-third  of  Joash  =  twenty-eighth  of  Jehu,  then 
first  of  Joash  (  =  sixth  of  Athaliah)  is  sixth  (not  seventh)  of 
Jehu). 

3.  continually:  i.e.  without  intermission.  It  was  perhaps 
the  seeming  absoluteness  of  this  statement  (as  if  the  final  rejection 
had  already  begun)  which  suggested  to  a  late  scribe  to  qualify 
it  by  the  interpolation  of  verses  4-6.  This  writer  is  probably 
responsible  for  the  kindred  passages  xiii.  23,  xiv.  26  f.  Whoever 
he  was,  he  must  have  read  the  closing  chapters  of  the  northern 


348  II   KINGS  13.5-9.     ZKID 

ahaz  besought  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  hearkened  unto 
him :  for  he  saw  the  oppression  of  Israel,  how  that  the 

5  king  of  Syria  oppressed  them.  (And  the  Lord  gave 
Israel  a  saviour,  so  that  they  went  out  from  under  the 
hand  of  the  Syrians :  and  the  children  of  Israel  dwelt  in 

6  their  tents,  as  beforetime.  Nevertheless  they  departed 
not  from  the  sins  of  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  wherewith 
he  made  Israel  to  sin,  but  walked  therein :   and  there 

7  remained  the  Asherah  also  in  Samaria.)  [KI]  For  he 
left  not  to  Jehoahaz  of  the  people  save  fifty  horsemen, 
and  ten  chariots,  and  ten  thousand  footmen ;  for  the 
king  of  Syria  destroyed  them,  and  made  them  like  the 

8  dust  in  threshing.  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Jehoahaz,  and  all  that  he  did,  and  his  might,  are  they 
not  written  in  the  book  ot  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of 

9  Israel  ?     And  Jehoahaz  slept  with  his  fathers  ;  and  they 

history  with  a   sympathy  which    neither  of  the  Deuteronomic 
editors  anywhere  evinces. 

4.  besought  tlie  ZiOBD :  as  i  Kings  xiii.  6. 

5.  a  saviour  :  '  deliverer  ' ;  cf.  Judges  iii.  9,  15.  The  deliverer  in 
this  instance  is  not,  as  some  have  supposed,  the  Assyrian  king  ; 
but  (as  xiv.  27  shows)  Jeroboam  II. 

7.  Per  he  left  not,  &c.  :  continuing  verse  3^  The  subject  of 
the  sentence  is  most  naturally  Yahweh.  not  Hazael. 

people  is  here  used,  as  often,  in  the  sense  of  '  army.'  When 
we  consider  that  the  army  was  a  militia,  in  which  all  the  male 
population  was  liable  to  be  enrolled,  we  can  appreciate  the  signi- 
ficance of  this  serious  reduction  of  the  fighting  strength  of  the 
kingdom  :  cf  Amos  iv.  10,  v.  3. 


*  This  view  of  the  construction,  which  is  that  of  Stade,  &c.,  is 
certainly  preferable  to  the  arrangement  of  R.  V,,  which  connects  verse 
7  with  the  end  of  verse  4.  It  does  not,  indeed,  quite  satisfactorily 
account  for  all  the  linguistic  phenomena  of  the  passage.  The 
phraseology  of  verses  35  has  remarkable  affinities  with  some  parts 
of  the  'framework'  of  the  book  of  Judges,  which  might  almost 
suggest  that  the  whole  was  from  one  hand.  The  writer  of  verses  4,  5 
would  appear  to  have  remodelled  the  language  of  verse  3. 


II    KINGS   13.  10-I2.     D2  349 

buried  him  in  Samaria :  and  Joash  his  son  reigned  in 
his  stead. 

In  the  thirty  and  seventh  year  of  Joash  king  of  Judah  lo 
began  Jehoash  the  son  of  Jehoahaz  to  reign  over  Israel 
in  Samaria,  and  rei^fied  sixteen  years.  And  he  did  that  ii 
which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  ;  he  departed 
not  from  all  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 
wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin  :  but  he  walked  therein. 
[Z]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Joash,  and  all  that  he  12 

xiii.   10-25,     Jehoash  of  Israel. 

In  addition  to  the  framework  (verses  10-13)  the  section  contains 
(rt)  the  conclusion  of  the  Elisha-history  (verses  14-21),  and  (A)  an 
extract  from  the  annals  of  Israel  (verses  22,  24,  25).  But  how 
are  wc  to  account  for  the  fact  that  both  of  these  come  after  the  con- 
cluding formula  ?  If  («)  alone  were  in  question  we  might  suppose 
that  the  insertion  had  been  made  later  than  the  main  redaction 
of  the  book;  but  obviously  that  theory  fails  to  explain  the  displace- 
ment of  \b).  The  easiest  solution  would  be  to  follow  the  text  of 
LXX  (L\  which  transfers  verses  12,  13  to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 
But  there  are  other  facts  to  be  taken  into  account,  of  which  this 
rearrangement  furnishes  no  explanation.  In  the  first  place,  the 
wording  of  verse  13  is  not  at  all  in  accordance  with  the  usual 
manner  of  the  compiler  ;  and  in  the  second  place,  the  concluding 
notice  on  Jehoash  is  found  in  regular  form  in  xiv.  15,  16,  under 
Amaziah  of  Judah.  Now  the  incident  of  xiv.  8-14  '^Amaziah's 
challenge  to  Jehoash)  belongs  as  much  to  the  one  reign  as  to  the 
other  ;  and  its  literary  source  is  more  likely  to  have  been  IsraeHtish 
than  Judaean  (see  below,  p.  353).  We  m::y  therefore  surmise 
that  originally  xiv.  8-14  followed  xiii.  25,  and  was  appropriately 
succeeded  by  the  formula  of  xiv.  15  f.  For  some  reason  it  was 
subsequently  removed  to  its  present  position  ;  and  by  an  inadver- 
tence of  the  editor  the  closing  formula  on  Jehoash  was  transferred 
along  with  it.  Finally,  a  still  later  scribe,  struck  by  the  absence 
of  the  concluding  notice  of  Jehoash,  made  good  the  defect  by 
inserting  12,  13. 

xiii.  10,  II.     InU'odiicHon. 

10.  The  synchronism  is  here  at  fault,  probably  by  a  clerical 
error.  Both  xiii,  i  and  xiv.  i  make  the  year  of  Jehoash 's  accession 
to  have  been  the  thirty-ninth  of  Jehoash  of  Judah. 

xiii.  12,  13.  On  these  verses,  see  the  introductory  note  above ; 
and  cf.  xiv.  15,  16. 


350  II    KINGS  13.  13-16.     ZEs 

did,  and  his  might  wherewith  he  fought  against  Amaziah 
king  of  Judah,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the 

13  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel?  And  Joash  slept  with 
his  fathers ;  and  Jeroboam  sat  upon  his  throne :  and 
Joash  was  buried  in  Samaria  with  the  kings  of  Israel. 

14  [Es]  Now  Elisha  was  fallen  sick  of  his  sickness 
whereof  he  died :  and  Joash  the  king  of  Israel  came 
down  unto  him,  and  wept  over  him,  and  said,  My  father, 
my   father,    the   chariots   of  Israel   and   the   horsemen 

15  thereof!    And   Elisha   said   unto  him,    Take   bow  and 

16  arrows:  and  he  took  unto  him  bow  and  arrows.  And 
he  said  to  the  king  of  Israel,  Put  thine  hand  upon  the 

13.  sat  upon  his  throne  is  a  phrase  never  used  in  the  framework. 

xiii.  14-21.  Death  a)id  Burial  of  Elisha.  The  last  scene  in  the 
life  of  EHsha  is  a  pathetic  tribute  at  once  to  his  loyalty  to  the 
dynasty  he  had  been  the  means  of  raising  to  the  throne  and  to 
the  great  part  he  had  played  in  his  country's  struggle  for  freedom. 
Over  his  death-bed  the  king  of  Israel  shed  tears  of  genuine  and 
manly  sorrow  at  the  loss  of  one  whose  spirit  had  been  the  best 
defence  of  the  realm — its  chariots  and  its  horsemen.  The  aged 
prophet  roused  himself  to  express  once  more  in  symbolic  act  his 
undying  faith  in  Yahweh's  power  and  Israel's  victory.  With  hir> 
hands  on  the  king's  hands,  as  if  he  would  infuse  into  him  his  own 
brave  spirit,  he  made  him  shoot  an  arrow  towards  Damascus  :  it 
was  the  arrow  of  Yahweh's  deliverance.  Then  he  bade  him 
smite  the  ground  with  the  arrows  ;  and  when  after  three  strokes 
Jehoash  paused,  he  rebuked  him  for  his  lack  of  energy  ;  and 
predicted  that  he  should  defeat  the  Syrians  but  thrice,  whereas 
if  he  had  gone  on  smiting  he  would  have  vanquished  them  utterly. 
After  his  death  it  was  believed  that  his  bones  could  work 
miracles ;  for  it  was  reported  that  on  one  occasion  a  dead  body 
flung  hurriedly  into  the  prophet's  tomb  on  the  approach  of  a  band 
of  marauders  was  restored  to  life. 

14.  wept  over  his  face  (marg.)  :  cf.  Gen.  1.  i. 
My  father  :  as  vi.  21. 

the  chariots  of  Israel,  &c.  See  on  ii.  12.  Whatever  be  the 
meaning  of  the  expression  in  the  earlier  passage,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  here  it  is  used  metaphorically  :  Elisha  had  been  more  to 
Israel  than  its  chariots  and  horsemen. 


H   KINGS  13.  17-21.     Es  351 

bow :  and  he  put  his  hand  upo?i  it.     And  Ehsha  laid  his 
hands  upon  the  king's  hands.     And  he  said,  Open  the  17 
window  eastward  :  and  he  opened  it.     Then  Ehsha  said, 
Shoot :  and  he  shot.     And  he  said,  The  LoRiys  arrow 
of  victory,  even  the  arrow  of  victory  over  Syria  :  for  thou 
shalt  smite  the  Syrians  in  Aphek,  till  thou  have  consumed 
them.     And  he  said,  Take  the  arrows  :  and  he  took  them.  iS 
And  he  said  unto  the  king  of  Israel,  Smite  upon  the 
ground:    and  he  smote  thrice,  and  stayed.     And  the  19 
man   of  God   was   wroth   with   him,    and    said,    Thou 
shouldest  have  smitten  five  or  six  times ;   then  hadst 
thou  smitten  Syria  till  thou  hadst  consumed  it :  whereas 
now  thou  shalt  smite  Syria  but  thrice. 

And  Elisha   died,  and   they  buried   him.     Now  the  20 
bands  of  the  Moabites  invaded  the  land  at  the  coming 
in  of  the  year.     And   it  came  to  pass,  as  they  were  21 
burying  a  man,  that,  behold,  they  spied  a  band;  and 
they  cast  the  man  into  the  sepulchre  of  Elisha :  and  as 

1*7.  in  Aphek  :  see  on  i  Kings  xx.  26. 

eastwa^rd:  the  direction  of  Damascus.  Shooting  an  arrow 
into  an  enemy's  country  was  a  common  symbol  of  the  declaration 
ol  war.  The  fighting  at  Aphek  is  not  recorded,  but  must  un- 
doubtedly have  taken  place. 

18.  and  stayed.  The  action  is  to  the  prophet  the  revelation  of 
a  flaw  in  the  character  of  Jehoash  — a  lack  of  grit  and  determina- 
tion, a  disposition  to  rest  satisfied  with  something  less  than  the 
utmost  attainable — which  made  high  achievement  impossible. 

19.  The  promise  of  verse  17  is  accordingly  restricted,  through 
the  fault  of  the  king. 

Thou  shonldest  have  smitten :  LXX  reads  :  '  If  thou  hadst 
smitten.' 

20.  invaded  should  be  '  used  to  invade '  :  it  was  a  yearly 
occurrence.  How  long  after  Elisha's  death  this  occurred  there  is 
absolutely  nothing  to  indicate. 

at  the  coming  in  of  the  year.  The  text  is  un grammatical 
and  corrupt :  perhaps  ^  year  by  year.' 

21.  and  as  soon  as,  &c.  Read,  with  LXX  (L),  'and  went 
away  ;  and  when  the  man  touched,'  &c.  (cf.  marg.). 


352  II    KINGS  13.22-25.     EsKIZKI 

soon  as  the  man  touched  the  bones  of  Elisha,  he  revived, 
and  stood  up  on  his  feet. 

3  2      [KI]  And  Hazael  king  of  Syria  oppressed  Israel  all 

23  the  days  of  Jehoahaz.  [Z]  But  the  Lord  was  gracious 
unto  them,  and  had  compassion  on  them,  and  had 
respect  unto  them,  because  of  his  covenant  with  Abraham^ 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  would  not  destroy  them,  neither 

24  cast  he  them  from  his  presence  as  yet.  [KI]  And 
Hazael   king   of  Syria   died ;    and  Ben-hadad  his   son 

35  reigned  in  his  stead.  And  Jehoash  the  son  of  Jehoahaz 
took  again  out  of  the  hand  of  Ben-hadad  the  son  of 

xiii.  22-25.  Successes  against  the  Syn'ans.  The  return  of 
prosperity  to  Israel  in  the  time  of  Jehoash  was  partly  due  perhaps 
to  the  death  of  Hazael  and  the  succession  of  a  feebler  monarch  ; 
but  the  principal  cause  was  a  renewal  of  Assyrian  activity  in  the 
west.  About  803,  Ramman-nirari  III  led  a  great  expedition  to 
the  Mediterranean  coast,  in  the  course  of  which  he  marched 
against  Damascus,  where  he  encountered  no  resistance.  It  is 
true  that  amongst  the  countries  subdued  at  this  time  the  inscrip- 
tion mentions  also  '  the  land  of  Humri '  i  i.  e.  Israel)  ;  but  the  net 
effect  of  the  breaking  of  the  power  of  Damascus  was  to  restore 
the  balance  of  power  amongst  the  western  states  and  enable 
Israel  for  a  time  to  hold  its  own.  Verses  22,  24,  25  may  be  taken 
from  the  Israelitish  annals  ;  verse  23  is  an  interpolation  of  the 
same  character  as  verses  4-6,  LXX  (L)  inserts  it  between  verses 
6  and  7. 

22.  oppressed:  better,  'had  oppressed.'  After  this  verse 
LXX  (L)  has  preserved  an  ancient  and  valuable  notice:  'And 
Hazael  had  taken  the  Philistine  out  of  his  (Jehoahaz's)  hand 
from  the  western  Sea  unto  Aphek.' 

23.  as  yet :  or,  '  until  now'  (marg.)  is  wanting  in  LXX  (B)  and 
other  MSS. 

24.  Ben-hadad  his  son :  on  the  name,  see  on  i  Kings  xx.  i. 
The  contemporary  king  of  Damascus  is  called  on  Ramman-nirari's 
inscription  Man.  In  all  probability  he  is  the  same  who  is  here 
called  Ben-hadad,  the  third  of  that  name  mentioned  in  the  O.  T. 
(Winckler,  Alttest.  Untersuclnmgen,  p.  66). 

25.  Amongst  the  cities  retaken  may  have  been  Lo-debar  and 
Karnaim,  according  to  a  conjectural  emendation  of  Amos  vi.  13 
(see  Driver,  in  Canib.  Bible). 


II    KINGS  14.  1-5.     KID  353 

Hazael  the  cities  which  he  had  taken  out  of  the  hand  of 
Jehoahaz  his  father  by  war.  Three  times  did  Joash 
smite  him,  and  recovered  the  cities  of  Israel. 

[D]  In  the  second  year  of  Joash  son  of  Joahaz  king  of  14 
Israel  began  Amaziah  the  son  of  Joash  king  of  Judah  to 
reign.     He  was  twenty  and  five  years  old  when  he  began  2 
to   reign;    and   he  reigned   twenty  and   nine  years   in 
Jerusalem ;   and  his  mother's  name  was  Jehoaddin  of 
Jerusalem.     And  he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  3 
of  the  Lord,  yet  not  like  David  his  father:    he  did 
according  to  all  that  Joash  his  father  had  done.     How-  4 
beit  the  high  places  were  not  taken  away :  the  people 
still  sacrificed  and  burnt  incense  in   the  high   places. 
And   it   came  to  pass,   as   soon  as   the  kingdom  was  5 

Three  times :  in  fulfilment  of  Elisha's  prediction  (verse  19). 

xiv.  1-22.  Amaziah  of  Judah.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxv.) 
The  introduction  (verses  1-4)  is  followed  by  a  pair  of  annalistic 
notices  (verses  5-7),  on  the  execution  of  the  murderers  of  the  late 
king  and  the  re-conquest  of  Edom.  Then  comes  (in  8-14)  a  long 
and  graphic  narrative  of  how^  Amaziah,  his  head  turned  by  his 
victories  in  Edom,  was  foolhardy  enough  to  measure  his  strength 
with  Jehoash  of  Israel,  and  suffered  a  humiliating  defeat.  The  whole 
tone  of  this  passage,  as  well  as  an  incidental  expression  in  verse 
II,  shows  that  it  is  taken,  not  from  a  Judaean,  but  from  an 
Ephraimitic  source,  possibly  the  chronicles  of  the  northern  king- 
dom. The  remainder  of  the  section  is  written  by  the  compiler, 
with  the  exception  of  an  interpolation  in  verse  17,  and  two  extracts 
from  the  annals  in  verses  19-21,  22. 
xiv.  1-4.     Introduction. 

1.  In  the  second  year.    See  on  xiii.  10. 

2.  twenty  and  nine  years.  A  comparison  with  xiii.  loandxv.  i 
brings  to  light  a  discrepancy  of  twelve  years  between  the  duration 
of  this  reign  and  the  synchronistic  scheme,  the  first  of  two  serious 
errors  that  have  crept  into  the  chronology  of  Kings.  See  Introd. 
p.  42  ;  and  below  on  xv.  i. 

4.  Cf.  I  Kings  iii.  2f. 

xiv.  5,  6.  Punishment  of  the  Murderers  of  Jehoash.  See  xii. 
20,  21. 

Aa 


354  n    KINGS  14.6-8.     DKJKI(?) 

established  in  his  hand,  that  he  slew  his  servants  which 

6  had  slain  the  king  his  father :  but  the  children  of  the 
murderers  he  put  not  to  death  :  according  to  that  which 
is  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  of  Moses,  as  the  Lord 
commanded,  saying,  The  fathers  shall  not  be  put  to 
death  for  the  children,  nor  the  children  be  put  to  death 
for  the  fathers ;  but  every  man  shall  die  for  his  own  sin. 

7  [KJ]  He  slew  of  Edom  in  the  Valley  of  Salt  ten 
thousand,  and  took  Sela  by  war,  and  called  the  name  of 
it  Joktheel,  unto  this  day. 

8  [KI  ?]  Then  Amaziah  sent  messengers  to  Jehoash,  the 

6.  The  sparing  of  the  children  of  the  guilty  persons  was 
evidently  a  new  departure  in  jurisprudence,  indicating  an  advance 
in  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  community.  Examples  of  the  older 
practice  are  found  in  the  case  of  Achan  (Joshua  vii.  24  ff.),  and 
even  the  quite  recent  instance  of  Naboth  (ix.  26). 

The  reference  to  the  book  of  the  law  of  Moses  is  to  Deut.  xxiv. 
16,  Deuteronomy  being  the  only  law-book  known  to  the  compiler. 
(Cf.  I  Kings  ii.  3.) 

xiv.  7.  Victory  over  the  Edomites.  Since  Jehoram's  abortive 
attempt  to  suppress  the  revolt  (viii.  20-22)  Edom  had  maintained 
its  independence  against  Judah  ;  and  the  contemporary  notices 
seem  to  show  that  even  this  signal  success  of  Amaziah  did  not 
result  in  the  permanent  subjugation  of  the  country.  We  may 
perhaps  infer  from  verse  22  that  the  object  of  the  campaign  was  to 
secure  the  possession  of  the  port  of  Elath,  and  the  trade-routes 
between  it  and  Judah. 

*l.  the  Valley  of  Salt  (cf.  2  Sam.  viii.  13)  is  by  most  localized 
in  the  marshy  plain  to  the  south  of  the  Dead  Sea.  Buhl  {Geog. 
p.  88)  identifies  it  with  the  modern  vvadi  of  the  same  name 
\Wadi  el-MiUi),  east  of  Beer-sheba. 

Sela:  or,  'the  rock'  (marg.)  (Judges  i.  36;  Isa.  xvi.  i),  has 
commonly  been  taken  to  be  the  name  of  Petra,  the  rock-city,  the 
capital  of  Edom.  The  identification  has  been  recently  disputed 
(see  Moore,  on  Judges  i.  36) ;  and  the  fact  that  the  place  bore  the 
name  Joktheel,  unto  this  day  is  certainly  not  in  favour  of  it. 

xiv.  8-14.  Amaziah's  Encounter  with  Jehoash.  Elated  by  his 
recent  success  (see  verse  10)  Amaziah  boastfully  challenges 
Jehoash  of  Israel  to  a  trial  of  strength.  Jehoash  at  first  answers 
with  a  contemptuous  parable,  advising  him  to  rest  on  his  laurels 


II    KINGS  14.9-12.     KI(?)  355 

son  of  Jehoahaz  son  of  Jehu,   king  of  Israel,   saying, 
Come,  let  us  look  one  anotlier  in  the  face.     And  Jehoash    9 
the  king  of  Israel  sent  to  Amaziah  king  of  Judah,  saying, 
The  thistle  that  was  in  Lebanon  sent  to  the  cedar  that 
was  in  Lebanon,  saying.  Give  thy  daughter  to  my  son  to 
wife :    and  there  passed  by  a  wild  beast  that  was   in 
Lebanon,  and  trode  down  the  thistle.     Thou  hast  indeed  10 
smitten   Edom,   and  thine  heart   hath  lifted  thee  up: 
glory  thereof,  and  abide  at  home;   for  why  shouldest 
thou  meddle  to  thy  hurt,  that  thou  shouldest  fall,  even 
thou,  and  Judah  with  thee?     But  Amaziah  would  not  n 
hear.     So  Jehoash  king  of  Israel  went  up ;  and  he  and 
Amaziah  king  of  Judah  looked  one  another  in  the  face 
at  Beth-shemesh,  which  belongeth  to  Judah.     And  Judah  13 

and  nurse  his  vanity  at  home.  But  when  Amaziah  refuses  to  take 
warning  he  marches  against  him,  and  the  two  armies  meet  at 
Beth-shemesh,  west  of  Jerusalem,  where  the  Judaeans  suffer  a 
crushing  defeat.  Their  king  is  taken  prisoner,  a  large  piece  of  the 
north  wall  of  the  capital  is  destroyed,  the  temple  and  palace  are 
rifled,  and  hostages  are  taken  for  future  behaviour.  The  incident 
illustrates  the  relative  importance  of  the  two  kingdoms  ever  since 
the  disruption  of  the  nation.  The  two  latest  commentators  assume 
that  the  old  relation  of  vassalship  still  subsisted  between  them, 
and  understand  Amaziah's  challenge  as  an  assertion  of  his  inde- 
pendence. But  the  Israelitish  suzerainty  must  have  terminated 
with  the  dynasty  of  Omri,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  of  the 
subsequent  kings  was  strong  enough  to  recover  it,  unless,  indeed, 
it  were  Jehoash  himself.  The  conduct  of  Amaziah  has  to  be 
construed  as  the  sheer  insolence  of  success.  On  the  original 
position  of  the  verses,  see  above,  p.  349. 

8.  look  one  another  in  the  face :  a  strange  expression  for 
*  confront  one  another  in  battle.'  Jehoash's  parable,  to  be  sure, 
seems  to  interpret  it  as  merely  a  claim  to  treat  with  him  on  terms 
of  equality.  But  the  details  of  the  parable  cannot  be  pressed ; 
and  in  verse  12  the  fighting  follows  as  a  matter  of  course. 

10.  meddle  to  thy  hurt  should  be  rendered  as  marg.  '  provoke 
calamity.' 

11.  Beth-shemesh.     See  on  i  Kings  iv.  9. 

which  belongeth   to  Judah   shows  that  the  writer  is  an 
Ephraimite  (cf.  i  Kings  xix.  3). 

A  a  2 


356  II    KINGS  14.  13-17.     KI(?)DZ 

was  put  to  the  worse  before  Israel ;  and  they  fled  every 

13  man  to  his  tent.  And  Jehoash  king  of  Israel  took 
Aniaziah  king  of  Judah,  the  son  of  Jehoash  the  son  of 
Ahaziah,  at  Beth-shemesh,  and  came  to  Jerusalem,  and 
brake  down  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  from  the  gate  of 
Ephraim   unto  the   corner  gate,    four  hundred  cubits. 

14  And  he  took  all  the  gold  and  silver,  and  all  the  vessels 
that  were  found  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the 
treasures  of  the  king's  house,    the  hostages  also,  and 

15  returned  to  Samaria.  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Jehoash  which  he  did,  and  his  might,  and  how  he  fought 
with  Amaziah  king  of  Judah,  are  they  not  written  in  the 

16  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ?  And 
Jehoash  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in  Samaria 
with  the  kings  of  Israel ;  and  Jeroboam  his  son  reigned 
in  his  stead. 

17  [Z]  And  Amaziah  the  son  of  Joash  king  of  Judah 

13.  and  came.  Read,  as  LXX  and  s  Chron.  xxv.  23,  <  and 
brought  him.' 

the  grate  of  Ephraim,  as  the  name  indicates,  must  have  been 
that  through  which  the  road  to  Ephraim  issued :  therefore,  in  the 
northern  wall. 

the  corner  gate  was  probably  at  the  north-west  angle  of  the 
wall, 

four  hundred  cubits :  200  yards  or  upwards  (see  on  i  Kings 
vi.  2). 

xiv.  15,  16.  On  the  displacement  of  these  verses,  see  above, 
P-  349- 

xiv.  17-22.  Concluding  Formula.  Death  of  Amaziah.  Like  his 
father  Jehoash  (xii.  20  f),  Amaziah  was  put  to  death  by  his  own 
subjects.  The  '  conspiracy,'  however,  was  in  this  case  no  mere 
palace  intrigue,  but  a  popular  insurrection  in  favour  of  the  young 
prince  Azariah,  a  result  probably  of  the  misfortunes  into  which  the 
state  had  been  plunged  by  the  folly  of  Amaziah.  The  king  fled 
to  Lachish,  where  the  insurgents  overtook  and  slew  him  ;  but  his 
body  was  buried  with  due  honours  at  Jerusalem.  The  section  un- 
doubtedly incorporates  annalistic  material,  and  is  not  quite  in  the 
compiler's  usual  vein. 


II   KINGS  14.18-23.     ZDKJD  357 

lived  after  the  death  of  Jehoash  son  of  Jehoahaz  king  of 
Israel  fifteen  years.     [D]   Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  18 
Amaziah,    are   they   not   written    in   the   book   of   the 
chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?     [KJ]  And  they  made  19 
a  conspiracy  against  him  in  Jerusalem ;  and  he  fled  to 
Lachish:  but  they  sent  after  him  to  Lachish,  and  slew 
him  there.     And  they  brought  him  upon  horses  :  and  he  ao 
was  buried  at  Jerusalem  with  his  fathers  in  the  city  of 
David.     And  all  the  people  of  Judah  took  Azariah,  who  a  i 
was  sixteen  years  old,  and  made  him  king  in  the  room 
of  his  father  Amaziah.     He  built  Elath,  and  restored  it  23 
to  Judah,  after  that  the  king  slept  with  his  fathers. 

[D]  In  the  fifteenth  year  of  Amaziah  the  son  of  Joash  23 

17  is  a  note  inserted  by  a  scribe  to  mark  the  interval  between 
the  two  concluding  formulas.  The  chronology  corresponds  with 
xiii.  10,  xiv.  2. 

19.  Lacliisli  is  now  pretty  surely  identified  (by  Petrie)  with 
Tell  el-Hast,  at  the  mouth  of  a  valley  in  the  Shephelah,  about 
thirty-five  miles  south-west  of  Jerusalem  (G.  A.  Smith,  Hist  Geog. 
p.  234).     See  xviii.  14. 

22.  The  peculiar  position  of  the  verse  cannot  be  fully  explained. 
It  has  certainly  a  connexion  with  verse  7  ;  and  perhaps  the  most 
natural  interpretation  is  that  Amaziah  had  succeeded  in  capturing 
Elath,  but  had  afterwards  lost  it  owing  to  his  defeat  by  Jehoash  ; 
and  that  its  recovery  was  one  of  the  first  exploits  of  Azariah  after 
his  accession.  But  if  that  be  the  meaning,  it  is  difficult  to  see  why 
the  notice  was  not  reserved  for  the  history  of  Azariah. 

On  the  situation  of  Elath,  see  i  Kings  ix.  26. 

xiv.  23-29.    Jeroboam  TI  of  Israel. 

The  reign  of  Jeroboam  11  was  the  most  brilliant,  as  it  was  by  far 
the  longest,  in  the  history  of  the  northern  kingdom.  His  success 
was  largely  due  to  the  crippling  of  Damascus  and  the  neighbouring 
states  by  repeated  raids  of  the  Assyrians  under  Shalmaneser  III 
(78a  772)  and  Asshurdan  III  (772-754)  ;  while  the  inactivity  of 
Asshur-nirari  (754-746)  gave  an  opportunity  for  the  expansion  of 
Israel  such  as  no  previous  monarch  had  enjoyed.  Jeroboam 
accordingly  extended  his  dominions  to  the  utmost  limits  of 
Solomon's  empire;    and  the   country,  enriched  by  the  tribute 


358  II    KINGS  14.  24-27.     D  KI Z 

king  of  Judah  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Joash  king  of  Israel 
began  to  reign  in  Samaria,  and  reigned  forty  and  one 
34  years.  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord  :  he  departed  not  from  all  the  sins  of  Jeroboam 
the   son  of  Nebat,  wherewith   he  made  Israel  to  sin. 

25  [KI]  He  restored  the  border  of  Israel  from  the  entering 
in  of  Hamath  unto  the  sea  of  the  Arabah,  according  to 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  which  he  spake 
by  the  hand  of  his  servant  Jonah  the  son  of  Amittai,  the 

26  prophet,  which  was  of  Gath-hepher.  [Z]  For  the  I,ord 
saw  the  affliction  of  Israel,  that  it  was  very  bitter:  for 
there  was  none  shut  up  nor  left  at  large,   neither  was 

27  there  any  helper  for  Israel.  And  the  Lord  said  not  that 
he  would  blot  out  the  name  of  Israel  from  under  heaven  : 
but  he  saved  them  by  the  hand  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of 

of  subjugated  states,  rose  rapidly  to  an  unprecedented  height 
of  material  prosperity.  The  brief  and  colourless  narrative  before 
us  requires  to  be  supplemented  from  the  pages  of  Amos  and  Hosea 
before  we  can  form  a  true  estimate  of  the  character  and  splendour 
of  the  reign  of  Jeroboam. 

xiv.  23,  24.     IntwdudioH. 

23.  The  chronology  is  still  at  fault.  The  synchronistic  state- 
ment agrees  with  verses  i  and  17  (but  not  with  xv.  i)  ;  but  the 
length  of  reign  conflicts  with  xv.  8  (see  on  these  verses). 

xiv.  25-27.  Expansion  of  the  Empire.  See  introductory  note  to 
the  section.  Verse  25  may  be  abridged  from  the  annals  ;  verses 
26  and  27  appear  to  be  from  the  same  writer  as  xiii.  4  f.,  23. 

25.  Cf.  Amos  vi.  14. 

from  the  entering-  in  of  Hamatli.     See  i  Kings  viii.  65. 

the  sea  of  the  Arabah  is  the  Dead  Sea  ;  the  Arabah  being 
to  this  day  the  name  of  the  depression  which  connects  the  Jordan 
valley  with  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba. 

The  reference  to  Jonah  the  son  of  Amittai  shows  that  in  the 
prophets  religion  and  patriotism  still  went  hand  in  hand.  Jonah 
was  a  confrere  of  Elisha  rather  than  of  Amos. 

G-ath-hepher  was  a  town  of  Zebulon  (Joshua  xix.  13)  ;  and 
the  grave  of  Jonah  is  still  shown  in  the  vicinity  of  Nazareth. 

26.  shut  up  nor  left  ....     See  on  i  Kings  xiv.  10. 

27.  said  not  that  .  .  . :  *  had  not  purposed  to  blot  out.' 
hut  he  saved:   'and  so  he  delivered.' 


II    KINGS  14.28—15.2.     ZD  359 

Joash.  [D I  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jeroboam,  and  28 
all  that  he  did,  and  his  might,  how  he  warred,  and  how 
he  recovered  Damascus,  and  Hamath,  which  had  belonged 
to  Judah,  for  Israel,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of 
the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel?  And  Jeroboam  29 
slept  with  his  fathers,  even  with  the  kings  of  Israel ;  and 
Zechariah  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

In  the  twenty  and  seventh  year  of  Jeroboam  king  of  15 
Israel  began  Azariah  son  of  Amaziah  king  of  Judah  to 
reign.    Sixteen  years  old  was  he  when  he  began  to  reign  ;  2 
and  he  reigned  two  and  fifty  years  in  Jerusalem  :  and  his 

xiv.  28,  29.     Conclusion. 

28.  and  how  lie  recovered  .  .  .  Israel.  The  sentence  is  un« 
intelligible  in  the  Hebrew  ;  and  even  the  excision  of  the  words  to 
Judah  hardly  yields  a  tolerable  sense.  The  idea  conveyed  by  the 
R.  v.,  that  Damascus  and  Hamath  had  once  been  in  the  possession 
of  Judah  and  were  now  transferred  to  Israel,  is  wholly  baseless  ; 
and  a  'recovery*  of  these  territories  either  to  Israel  or  Judah 
could  not  be  spoken  of.     The  meaning  remains  obscure. 

XV.  1-7.  Azariah  of  Judah.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxvi.) 
The  record  of  this  long  and  fortunate  reign  is  disappointingly 
meagre.  There  is  evidence  that  under  Azariah  (or  Uzziah)  the 
kingdom  of  Judah  enjoyed  a  period  of  exceptional  prosperity, 
although  the  causes  of  that  prosperity  may  not  be  so  obvious  as 
those  to  which  the  contemporary  greatness  of  North  Israel  can  be 
traced.  The  early  prophecies  of  Isaiah  prove  that  the  resources 
of  the  state  had  been  wisely  administered  for  a  considerable  time  ; 
and  the  Book  of  Chronicles  has  much  to  tell  of  Uzziah's  successful 
military  enterprises,  and  his  measures  for  the  defence  of  the  land 
and  the  development  of  its  natural  advantages.  It  has  been 
thought  that  further  evidence  of  his  power  was  found  in  an 
Assyrian  inscription  of  Tiglath-pileser  III,  which  mentions  an 
Azariah  of  Ja'udi  as  the  leader  of  a  great  confederacy  of  North 
Syrian  states,  in  738  b.  c.  But  it  seems  no  longer  possible  to 
uphold  the  identification  of  Ja'udi  with  Judah,  or  of  its  king  with 
the  Azariah  of  the  O.  T.  (see  Whitehouse  in  DB,  iv.  p.  844  f.). 

1.  In  the  twenty  and  seventh  year:  at  variance  with  xiv.  2,  23. 
If  Jeroboam  began  to  reign  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Amaziah 
(xiv.  23),  and  Amaziah  reigned  twenty-nine  years  (xiv.  2,  17), 
the  first  year  of  Azariah  must  have  been  the  fifteenth  of  Jeroboam. 
Sec  further  on  verse  8  below ;  Introd.  p.  42. 


36o  II    KINGS  15.3-8.     DKJD 

3  mother's  name  was  Jecoliah  of  Jerusalem.  And  he  did 
that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  according 

4  to  all  that  his  father  Amaziah  had  done.  Howbeit  the 
high  places  were  not  taken  away  :  the  people  still  sacrificed 

5  and  burnt  incense  in  the  high  places.  [KJ]  And  the 
Lord  smote  the  king,  so  that  he  was  a  leper  unto  the 
day  of  his  death,  and  dwelt  in  a  several  house.  And 
Jotham  the  king's  son  was  over  the  household,  judging 

6  the  people  of  the  land.  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Azariah,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the 

7  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?  And 
Azariah  slept  with  his  fathers ;  and  they  buried  him  with 
his  fathers  in  the  city  of  David :  and  Jotham  his  son 
reigned  in  his  stead. 

8  In  the  thirty  and  eighth  year  of  Azariah  king  of  Judah 

The  name  Azariali  is  all  but  peculiar  to  the  Book  of  Kings  ; 
elsewhere  (except  i  Chron.  iii.  12)  the  form  Uzziah  is  used. 
Uzziah  appears  in  verses  13,  30,  32,  34  of  this  chapter ;  but  in 
each  case  the  LXX  reads  Azariah,  which  probably  stood  in  the 
original  text. 

5.  in  a  several  house.  The  phrase  was  unintelligible  to  the 
Greek  translators,  and  its  exact  sense  is  uncertain.  The  king  was 
certainly  isolated  and  relieved  of  the  duties  of  government ;  but 
that  he  was  confined  in  *  a  lazar  house '  (marg.)  is  in  itself 
improbable,  and  is  not  justified  by  the  Hebrew  text.  The  most 
attractive  interpretation  is  obtained  by  an  ingenious  correction  of 
Klostermann,  who  reads  :  'he  dwelt  in  his  own  house  unmolested^ 
(strictly,  *  at  liberty '),  in  contrast  with  ordinary  lepers,  who  were 
expelled  from  the  city  (vii.  3,)  How  long  the  regency  of  Jotham 
lasted  we  cannot  determine  (see  Introd.  p.  45  f.). 

XV.  8-12.  Zechariah  0/  Israel. 

After  the  death  of  Jeroboam  \l  the  northern  kingdom  plunged 
into  another  period  of  anarchy  and  civil  war,  which  lasted  till  the 
end :  usurper  after  usurper  seizing  the  crown,  and  royal  assassina- 
tions being  the  order  of  the  day.  His  son  and  successor, 
Zechariah,  thus  perished  after  a  reign  of  six  months.  Verse  10 
may  be  assigned  to  the  annals. 

8.  In  the  thirty  and  eighth  year.  In  order  to  reconcile  the 
synchronism  with  xiv.  23,  wc  should  have  either  to  read  :  '  In 


II   KINGS  15.9-14.     DKIDKI  361 

did  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jeroboam  reign  over  Israel  in 
Samaria  six  months.     And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  9 
the  sight  of  the  Lord,  as  his  fathers  had  done:   he 
departed   not  from  the   sins  of  Jeroboam   the  son   of 
Nebat,   wherewith   he  made  Israel   to  sin.     [KI]  And  10 
Shallum  the  son  of  Jabesh  conspired  against  him,  and 
smote  him  before  the  people,  and  slew  him,  and  reigned 
in  his  stead.     [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Zechariah,  n 
behold,  they  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of 
the  kings  of  Israel.     This  was  the  word  of  the  Lord  12 
which  he  spake   unto  Jehu,  saying,   Thy    sons   to  the 
fourth  generation  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of  Israel. 
And  so  it  came  to  pass. 

Shallum  the  son  of  Jabesh  began  to  reign  in  the  nine  13 
and  thirtieth  year  of  Uzziah  king  of  Judah;   and  he 
reigned  the  space  of  a  month  in  Samaria.     [KI]  And  14 
Menahem  the  son  of  Gadi  went  up  from  Tirzah,  and 
came  to  Samaria,  and  smote  Shallum  the  son  of  Jabesh 
in   Samaria,  and  slew  him,  and  reigned  in  his  stead. 

the  twenty-seventh  year,'  or  else  to  assign  to  Jeroboam  a  reign  of 
fifty-two  years.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  accept  the  statement 
of  XV.  I,  we  find  a  discrepancy  of  no  less  than  twenty-three  years. 
Two  independent  errors  of  considerable  magnitude  appear  to 
vitiate  the  chronology  (Introd.  p.  42). 

10.  before  the  people.  Read,  with  LXX  (L),  'in  Ibleam  '  (see 
on  ix.  27). 

12.  Cf.  X.  30. 

XV.  13-16.     Shallum  of  Israel. 

Shallum's  possession  of  the  throne  was  so  soon  contested  that 
Kittel  concludes  that  after  the  death  of  Jeroboam  II  two  rival 
parties  had  been  contending  for  the  mastery,  one  under  Shallum, 
and  the  other  under  Menahem,  who  held  Tirzah,  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  kingdom  {History^  Eng.  trans.,  ii.  p.  332  f.). 
The  order  of  the  section  is  somewhat  irregular  ;  the  annalistic 
notices  of  verses  14  and  16  (which  appear  to  stand  in  reversed 
order)  being  separated  by  the  closing  formula. 

14.  Tirzali.     See  i  Kings  xiv.  17. 


362  II    KINGS  15.15-19.     DKIDKI 

15  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Shallum,  and  his  con- 
spiracy which  he  made,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the 

16  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel.  [KI]  Then 
Menahem  smote  Tiphsah,  and  all  that  were  therein,  and 
the  borders  thereof,  from  Tirzah :  because  they  opened 
not  to  him,  therefore  he  smote  it;  and  all  the  women 
therein  that  were  with  child  he  ripped  up. 

1 7  [D]  In  the  nine  and  thirtieth  year  of  Azariah  king  of 
Judah  began  Menahem  the  son  of  Gadi  to  reign  over 

18  Israel,  and  reig7ied  ten  years  in  Samaria.  And  he  did 
that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  he  departed 
not  all  his  days  from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of 

19  Nebat,  wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin.     [KI]  There 

16.  Tiphsah  cannot  be  the  Tiphsah  on  the  Euphrates  (i  Kings 
iv.  24%  and  no  town  of  the  name  in  Palestine  is  known.  We 
may  probably  read  Tappuah,  a  town  on  the  borders  of  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh  (Joshua  xvi.  8,  xvii.  7).  It  was  held  by  the  partisans 
of  Shallum  ;  and  Menahem  attacks  it  from  Tirzah,  the  centre 
of  his  own  power. 

XV.  17-22.     Menahem  of  Israel. 

The  reign  of  Menahem  is  memorable  for  the  first  decisive  in- 
tervention of  Assyria  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Israel.  Tiglath- 
pileser  III  mentions  in  his  annals  the  name  of  Minihimmit  of 
Samirinai,  as  one  of  a  long  list  of  kings  from  whom  he  received 
tribute  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign  (738  b.c.)  (COT,  p.  223  ff.)  ^ 
The  Hebrew  side  of  the  incident  is  given  in  verses  19,  20,  which 
are  probably  taken  directly  from  the  annals  of  the  kingdom.  We 
learn  that  Tiglath-pileser  liad  actually  invaded  the  country ;  and 
that  in  consideration  of  the  tribute  he  not  only  withdrew  his 
troops,  but  confirmed  Menahem  on  the  throne,  which  probably 
means  that  he  supported  him  against  the  rival  party.  The  trans- 
action must  apparently  belong  to  the  end  of  the  reign  ;  for  we 
shall  see  presently  that  between  738  and  734  the  crown  twice 
changed  hands.      (Introd.  p.  44  f.) 

18.  The  phrase  all  his  days  stands  in  the  Hebrew  at  the  end  ; 
it  is  properly  the  beginning  of  verse  19,  and  ought  to  be  read  : 
'In  his  days'  (so  LXX). 

*  The  identification  has,  however,  been  disputed  by  Oppert  and 
others. 


II    KINGS  15.20-24.     KID  363 

came  against  the  land  Pul  the  king  of  Assyria;   and 
Menahem  gave  Pul  a  thousand  talents  of  silver,  that  his 
hand  might  be  with  him  to  confirm  the  kingdom  in  his 
hand.     And  Menahem  exacted  the  money  of  Israel,  even  20 
of  all  the  mighty  men  of  wealth,  of  each  man  fifty  shekels 
of  silver,  to  give  to  the  king  of  Assyria.     So  the  king  of 
Assyria  turned  back,  and  stayed  not  there  in  the  land. 
[D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Menahem,  and  all  that  21 
he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles 
of  the  kings  of  Israel?    And  Menahem  slept  with  his  22 
fathers ;  and  Pekahiah  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

In  the  fiftieth  year  of  Azariah  king  of  Judah  Pekahiah  23 
the   son  of  Menahem   began   to   reign   over  Israel   in 
Samaria,  aiid  reigned  two  years.     And  he  did  that  which  24 


19.  Pul  the  kingf  of  Assyria  is,  as  had  long  been  suspected, 
Tiglath-pileser  III  (see  verse  29).  The  two  are  indeed  distin- 
guished in  I  Chron.  v.  26  ;  but  the  identity  is  put  beyond  reason- 
able doubt  by  a  comparison  of  two  Babylonian  inscriptions,  one 
of  which  shows  the  name  Pulu  where  the  other  has  Tiglath- 
pileser  {Tukulti-abal-isarra).  See  KIB,  ii.  p.  290 f.  The  most 
probable  theory  is  that  Pulu  is  the  king's  real  name,  and  Tiglath- 
pileser  that  which  he  assumed  when  he  usurped  the  throne  of 
Assyria. 

a  thousand  talents  of  silver:  roundly  about  ;^400,ooo  in 
quantity.  The  last  clause  to  confiLrm  .  .  .  hand  is  wanting  in 
LXX  (B). 

20.  exacted  .  .  .of:  perhaps  'distributed  over'  (///.  'made 
to  go  out').  Klostermann  changes  the  verb  to  'commanded'; 
but  this  entails  further  alterations  of  the  text,  which  are  liardly 
justified, 

mighty  men  of  wealth  (///.  '  heroes  of  valour ';  means  simply 
well-to-do  people,  not  necessarily  landed  proprietors  merely. 
Taking  the  talent  at  3,000  shekels,  we  find  that  there  must  have 
been  sixty  thousand  such  persons  in  Israel. 

XV,  23-26.     Pekahiah  of  Israel. 

23.  For  two  years  LXX  (L)  reads  'ten  years'  ;  and  even  in 
the  Hebrew  text  of  xvii.  i  the  synchronism  seems  based  on  the 
assumption  of  a  ten  years*  reign  of  Pekahiah  (see  Introd.  p.  43). 


364  II    KINGS  15.  25-28.     DKID 

was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  he  departed  not 
from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  wherewith 

25  he  made  Israel  to  sin.  [KI]  And  Pekah  the  son  of 
Remaliah,  his  captain,  conspired  against  him,  and  smote 
him  in  Samaria,  in  the  castle  of  the  king's  house,  with 
Argob  and  Arieh ;  and  with  him  were  fifty  men  of  the 
Gileadites :  and  he  slew  him,  and  reigned  in  his  stead. 

36  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Pekahiah,  and  all  that  he 
did,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles 
of  the  kings  of  Israel. 

27  In  the  two  and  fiftieth  year  of  Azariah  king  of  Judah 
Pekah  the  son  of  Remaliah  began  to  reign  over  Israel  in 

a 8  Samaria,  and  reigned  twenty  years.  And  he  did  that 
which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  he  departed  not 
from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  wherewith 

The  Assyrian  chronology  proves  that  two  years  is  the  utmost 
that  can  be  allowed  for  the  reign. 

25.  his  captain:  or,  'adjutant';  see  on  vii.  2,  i  Kings  ix.  22. 

the  castle  of  the  kingr's  house  :  cf.  i  Kings  xvi.  18. 

with  Argfob  and  Arieh.  Argob  is  the  name  of  a  district  in 
Bashan  (i  Kings  iv.  13),  and  Arieh  means  'the  Hon.'  The  clause 
is  hopelessly  obscure.  The  fifty  men  .  .  .  Oileadites  are  of 
course  the  accomplices  of  Pekah,  who  was  therefore  presumably 
himself  a  Gileadite. 

XV.  27-31.     Pekah  of  Israel. 

The  chief  event  of  Pekah's  reign  was  the  seizure  of  the  northern 
province  of  the  kingdom  by  Tiglath-pileser,  and  the  deportation 
of  the  inhabitants  to  Assyria  (verse  29).  The  annals  of  Tiglath- 
pileser  show  that  this  expedition  belongs  to  the  year  734  or  7isv" 
It  had  been  preceded  and  occasioned  by  the  Syro-Ephraimivf'. 
league  against  Judah,  the  notice  of  which  is  reserved  for  the  he'- 
tories  of  Jotham  and  Ahaz  (see  verse  37  and  xvi.  5  ff.).  Pek  ^' 
must  therefore  have  entered  into  the  alliance  with  Damascus  "i^ 
the  very  beginning  of  his  reign  ;  and  the  prompt  interference  of 
Tiglath-pileser  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  what  the  ultimate  aim  if 
the  confederacy  was.  It  was  an  attempt  to  form  a  new  coahticn 
of  Syrian  states  against  Assyria  ;  and  Judah  was  to  be  coerced 
into   it    by  force.     The   circumstances  suggest  that  Pekah  hal 


II    KINGS  15.29-31.     DKID  365 

he  made  Israel  to  sin.  [KI]  In  the  days  of  Pekah  king  29 
of  Israel  came  Tiglath-pileser  king  of  Assyria,  and  took 
Ijon,  and  Abel-beth-maacah,  and  Janoah,  and  Kedesh, 
and  Hazor,  and  Gilead,  and  Galilee,  all  the  land  of 
Naphtali ;  and  he  carried  them  captive  to  Assyria.  And  3° 
Hoshea  the  son  of  Elah  made  a  conspiracy  against 
Pekah  the  son  of  Remaliah,  and  smote  him,  and  slew 
him,  and  reigned  in  his  stead,  in  the  twentieth  year  of 
Jotham  the  son  of  Uzziah.     [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  31 

risen  to  power  as  the  leader  of  an  anti- Assyrian  faction,  and  that 
Pekahiah  had  been  assassinated  because,  like  his  father  Menahem, 
he  ruled  as  a  protected  vassal  of  the  Assyrian  empire.  Pekah 
was  in  his  turn  murdered  by  Hoshea,  the  nominee  of  Tiglath- 
pileser;  and  the  Assyrian  records  confirm  the  impression  given 
by  verse  30,  that  this  took  place  in  connexion  with  the  punitive 
expedition  of  734/3.  The  statement  that  Pekah  reigned  for 
twenty  years  is  quite  erroneous. 

29.  The  depopulated  district  corresponds  generally  with  that 
ravaged  by  the  Syrians  in  the  time  of  Asa  :  see  on  i  Kings  xv.  20. 
Two  of  the  cities  here  named,  Ijon  and  Abel-beth-iuaacah, 
are  mentioned  there,  as  well  as  the  tribal  name  Naphtali  ;  Jauoali 
is  unknown  ;  Kedesh  is  the  modem  Kades,  north-west  of  Lake 
Huleh ;  on  Hazor  and  Oalilee,  see  i  Kings  ix.  15,  11. 

Oilead  cannot  be  the  familiar  name  of  the  trans-Jordanic 
district  :  it  is  probably  identical  with  a  city  Grt/[.  .  .],  mentioned 
along  with  Abel  in  the  Assyrian  account  of  the  incident  (the 
second  syllable  of  the  name  is  undecipherable). 

carried  them  captive :  or,  *  exiled  them  '  ;  the  verb  (as  dis- 
tinct, e.  g.,  from  that  used  in  verse  2)  expresses  the  idea  of  migra- 
tion from  home,  though  here  the  difference  is  perhaps  inappreci- 
able. 

30.  Hoshea  is  the  leader  of  the  pro-Assyrian  party.  Tiglath- 
pileser,  indeed,  claims  for  himself  the  honour  of  putting  Pekah 
to  death  and  setting  AusV  (Hoshea)  on  the  throne ;  but  the 
boasts  of  Assyrian  kings  are  not  always  veracious.  The  truth 
seems  to  have  been  that  Hoshea  committed  the  murder,  and  then 
submitted  to  Tiglath-pileser  and  reigned  as  his  vassal. 

in  the  twentieth  year  of  Jotham.  The  date  would  agree 
with  verse  27,  but  is  glaringly  inconsistent  with  xvii.  i  ;  moreover 
the  Book  of  Kings  assigns  only  sixteen  years  to  Jotham.  Since 
the  statement  is  not  in  the  compiler's  usual  manner,  and  could 
not  have  been  in  the  chronicles  of  Israel  (which  never  date  events 


366  II   KINGS  15.  32-35.     D 

of  Pekah,  and  all  that  he  did,  behold,  they  are  written  in 
the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel. 
33      In  the  second  year  of  Pekah  the  son  of  Remaliah  king 
of  Israel  began  Jotham  the  son  of  Uzziah  king  of  Judah 

33  to  reign.  Five  and  twenty  years-  old  was  he  when  he 
began  to  reign  ;  and  he  reigned  sixteen  years  in  Jerusalem: 
and   his   mother's  name  was  Jerusha   the  daughter  of 

34  Zadok.  And  he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord  :  he  did  according  to  all  that  his  father  Uzziah 

35  had  done.  Howbeit  the  high  places  were  not  taken 
away :  the  people  still  sacrificed  and  burned  incense  in 
the  high  places.     He  built  the  upper  gate  of  the  house 

by  the  records  of  the  sister  kingdom),  it  may  be  regarded  as  an 
interpolation.     (But  see  Introd.  p.  45,  note  ^) 

XV.  32-38.     Jotham  of  Judah,     (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxvii.) 

The  only  occurrences  thought  worthy  of  record  in  this  reign 
are  the  making  of  a  new  gate  in  the  temple-court  and  the 
commencement  of  hostilities  by  Rezin  and  Pekah,  annalistic 
notices  of  which  are  preserved  in  verses  35*^  and  37.  From  the 
narrative  of  Chronicles,  which  is  no  doubt  based  on  authentic 
documents,  Jotham  seems  to  have  continued  the  vigorous  policy 
of  his  father,  and  to  have  reigned  with  credit  and  success. 

35.  built  the  upper  g-ate.  Of  the  gates  in  Solomon's  temple 
very  little  is  known.  In  xi,  19  we  read  {a)  of  a  '  gate  of  the  foot- 
guards,'  which  may  have  been  that  which  communicated  directly 
between  the  palace  and  the  temple  ;  if  so,  it  must  have  been  in 
the  south  wall  of  the  temple-court.  Jeremiah  mentions  {h)  an  ■ 
*  upper  gate  of  Benjamin '  (xx.  2),  (c)  a  '  new  gate '  (xxvi.  10, 
xxxvi.  10),  and  (</)  a  'third  entry'  (xxxviii.  14,  where,  however, 
Giesebrecht  reads  '  gate  of  the  body-guard  ').  From  Ezek.  viii.  3, 
ix.  2  we  learn  that  there  was  {e)  a  'northern  gate.'  These  can- 
not have  been  all  different.  With  Giesebrecht's  emendation  (a) 
and  {d)  may  be  safely  identified,  and  located  in  the  south  wall. 
(6)  and  {e)  are  also  probably  identical ;  and  the  question  is 
whether  Jotham's  'upper  gate'  is  this  north  gate  (^»,  e)  or  the 
'new  gate'  (c),  or  whether  these  again  are  the  same.  A  gate 
built  by  Jotham  would  not  be  exactly  '  new  *  in  the  time  of  Jere- 
miah, but  if  it  was  the  newest  it  might  easily  bear  the  name. 
Still,  since  Jeremiah  uses  the  two  names,  it  is  more  probable  that 
they  were  distinct,  and  that  the  gate  here  referred  to  was  the 
same  as  (6). 


II    KINGS  15.  36— 16.  3.     D  367 

of  the  Lord.     Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jotham,  and  36 
all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the 
chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?    In  those  days  the  37 
Lord  began  to  send  against  Judah  Rezin  the  king  of 
Syria,  and  Pekah  the  son  of  Remaliah.     And  Jotham  3S 
slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  with  his  fathers  in 
the  city  of  David  his  father :  and  Ahaz  his  son  reigned 
in  his  stead. 

In  the  seventeenth  year  of  Pekah  the  son  of  Remaliah  16 
Ahaz  the  son  of  Jotham  king  of  Judah  began  to  reign. 
Twenty  years  old  was  Ahaz  when  he  began  to  reign  ;  and    2 
he  reigned  sixteen  years  in  Jerusalem :  and  he  did  not 
that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  his  God, 
like  David  his  father.     But  he  walked  in  the  way  of  the    3 

37.  See  on  xvi.  5  ff. 

xvi.  Ahaz  of  Judah.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxviii.) 
The  section  on  Ahaz  contains,  besides  the  framework,  (i)  an 
account  of  the  combined  expedition  of  Rezin  and  Pekah  against 
Judah  (verses  5-9)  — this  may  be  supposed  taken  from  the  annals 
of  the  reign  ;  (2)  a  description  of  certain  alterations  made  in 
the  temple  by  order  of  Ahaz,  including  the  erection  of  a  new  altar 
after  a  foreign  model,  and  the  removal  of  some  parts  of  the 
temple  furniture  to  raise  money  for  the  king  of  Assyria  (10-18). 
The  style  of  the  passage  is  too  diffuse,  and  the  narrative  too  cir- 
cumstantial, to  be  naturally  attributed  to  an  official  annalist ;  in 
all  probability  it  belongs  to  the  same  source  as  xii.  4ff., 
whether  that  be  the  chronicles  of  Judah  or  a  separate  document. 

xvi.  1-4.     Introduction. 

1.  Ahaz.  The  full  name  was  Yeho-ahdz,  as  appears  from  an  in- 
scription of  Tiglath-pileser,  in  which  Ya'u-hazt  of  Judah  is  men- 
tioned in  a  list  of  tributaries  {KIB,  ii.  p.  20  f.  ;  COT,  i.  p.  263). 

2.  According  to  xviii.  2,  Hezekiah  was  twenty -five  years  old 
at  the  death  of  Ahaz  ;  consequently  Ahaz  must  have  been  ten 
years  of  age  when  his  son  was  born.  There  must  be  an  error 
in  one  of  the  passages. 

3.  The  judgement  on  Ahaz  is  more  severe  than  on  any  other 
king  of  Judah  except  Manasseh.  Not  only  did  he  follow  the 
example  of  the  northern  kings,  but  he  imitated  the  worst  abomina- 
tions of  the  Canaanites. 


368  II    KINGS  16.4,5.     DKJ 

kings  of  Israel,  yea,  and  made  his  son  to  pass  through 
the  fire,  according  to  the  abominations  of  the  heathen, 
whom  the  Lord  cast  out  from  before  the  children  of 

4  Israel.  And  he  sacrificed  and  burnt  incense  in  the  high 
places,  and  on  the  hills,  and  under  every  green  tree. 

5  [KJ]  Then  Rezin  king  of  Syria  and  Pekah  son  of 
Remaliah  king  of  Israel  came  up  to  Jerusalem  to  war : 
and  they  besieged  Ahaz,  but  could  not  overcome  him. 


made  his  son  .  .  .  fire :  or,  *  dedicated  his  son  by  fire.'  (Cf. 
Exod.  xiii.  12.)  The  expression  is  almost  restricted  to  the  rite 
of  child-sacrifice ;  and,  whatever  its  primary  sense  may  be,  un- 
doubtedly denoted  actual  burning.  Although  the  practice  may 
have  occurred  sporadically  in  early  Israel  (see  Judges  xi.  34  ff.), 
and  survived  among  the  neighbouring  Semites  (iii.  27),  it  was 
only  towards  the  fall  of  the  state  and  in  the  decline  of  the  national 
religion  that  it  became  a  common  feature  of  Hebrew  worship 
(cf.  xvii.  17,  xxi,  6,  xxiii.  10  ;  Mic.  vi.  7  ;  Jer.  vii.  31,  xix.  5,  &c.). 
Ahaz  was  perhaps  the  first  to  introduce  it  in  Judah. 

4.  And  lie  sacrificed  :  not  merely  allowed  the  people  to  do  so, 
as  the  best  of  his  predecessors  had  done.  The  phraseology  of 
the  close  of  the  verse  is  Jeremianic  :  Jer.  ii.  20,  iii.  6,  &c. 

xvi.  5-9.  The  Syro-Ephraimitic  Invasion.  From  xv.  37  it  appears 
that  the  war  had  broken  out  in  the  reign  of  Jotham,  though  the 
situation  became  critical  only  after  the  accession  of  Ahaz.  Isaiah's 
vivid  description  of  the  consternation  produced  in  Jerusalem 
(Isa.  vii.  I  ff.)  suggests  that  the  attack  came  as  a  surprise  to  the 
Judaeans  ;  and  possibly  xv,  37  only  implies  that  the  plot  had  been 
hatched  under  Jotham,  to  be  disclosed  in  all  its  alarming  dimen- 
sions after  his  death.  The  object  of  the  expedition,  as  has  been 
stated  above  (p.  364),  was  to  bring  Judah  into  a  league  against 
Assyria ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  Ahaz  was  ever  given  an 
opportunity  to  join  it  voluntarily  ;  and  the  effect  was  to  throw  him 
into  the  arms  of  the  Assyrian  monarch.  His  action  in  seeking 
the  protection  of  Tiglath-pileser  was  condemned  by  Isaiah,  who 
judged  it  a  needless  sacrifice  of  the  independence  of  the  country, 
for  a  kind  of  service  which  Tiglath-pileser  was  sure  to  render  in 
his  own  interests,  without  any  bargain. 

5.  Bezin  (Assyrian,  Rasunrnt)  was  one  of  those  who  had  paid 
tribute  to  Tiglath-pileser  along  with  Menahem  in  738  (see  p.  362). 

could  not  overcome  him  :  lit.  *  were  unable  to  fight  * ;  i.e. 
to  come  to  close  quarters. 


II    KINGS  16.  6-IO.     KJ  J  36^ 

At  that  time  Rezin  king  of  Syria  recovered  Elath  to    6 
Syria,  and  drave  the  Jews  from  Elath  :  and  the  Syrians 
came  to  Elath,  and  dwelt  there,  unto  this  day.     So  Ahaz    7 
sent  messengers  to  Tiglath-pileser  king  of  Assyria,  saying, 
I  am  thy  servant  and  thy  son :  come  up,  and  save  me 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Syria,  and  out  of  the  hand 
of  the  king  of  Israel,  which  rise  up  against  me.     And    8 
Ahaz  took  the  silver  and  gold  that  was  found  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  treasures  of  the  king's 
house,  and  sent  it  for  a  present  to  the  king  of  Assyria. 
And  the  king  of  Assyria  hearkened  unto  him :  and  the    9 
king  of  Assyria  went  up  against  Damascus,  and  took  it, 
and  carried  the  people  of  it  captive  to  Kir,  and  slew 
Rezin.     [J]  And  king  Ahaz  went  to  Damascus  to  meet  10 

6.  A  collateral  result  of  the  war  was  the  loss  of  Elath  to  Judah  : 
see  xiv.  22,  The  names  Syrians  {Aramaeans)  and  Edomites 
(niarg.)  are  often  confounded  in  the  O.  T.  ;  and  here  the  conson- 
antal text  favours  the  former  reading,  while  the  punctuators 
adopt  the  second.  The  latter  are  doubtless  right ;  but  in  that 
case  it  is  necessary  to  change  Sjrria  (Aram)  to  '  Edom '  (twice), 
and  omit  Rezin  as  a  mistake.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Elath  could 
not  be  '  recovered  '  to  Syria,  because  it  had  never  belonged  to  it. 
The  verse  must  be  read  as  a  parenthesis. 

drave :  '  cleared  out.' 

7.  Ahaz  declares  himself  the  vassal  of  Assyria. 

8.  Cf.  verses  17,  18. 

a  present  meant  practically  *  tribute  ' ;  and  so  Tiglath-pileser 
would  regard  it. 

9.  The  Assyrian  expedition  against  Israel,  recorded  in  xv.  29, 
preceded  that  against  Damascus,  which  was  conquered  after  two 
years'  fighting  only  in  732.  The  inscriptions  of  Tiglath-pileser 
mention  the  siege  of  the  city,  but  do  not  (so  far  as  yet  discovered) 
describe  its  actual  capture,  or  the  death  of  Rezin. 

to  Kir  :  cf.  Amos  i.  5.    The  word  is  wanting  here  in  the  LXX. 

xvi.  10-16.  Erection  of  a  new  Altar  in  the  Temple.  Ahaz  pays 
homage  to  Tiglath-pileser  in  Damascus,  where  he  must  have 
been  detained  for  some  time.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  virtuoso 
in  ritual,  and  being  much  pleased  with  the  design  of  the  Damascus 
altar,  he  sent  orders  to  his  priest  in  Jerusalem  to  have  a  similar 
one  built  for  th«  temple  against  his  return.     This  was  done  ;  and 

Bb 


370  II   KINGS  16.  11-14.     J 

Tiglath-pileser  king  of  Assyria,  and  saw  the  altar  that 
was  at  Damascus :    and  king  Ahaz  sent  to  Urijah  the 

II  priest  the  fashion  of  the  altar,  and  the  pattern  of  it, 
according  to  all  the  workmanship  thereof.  And  Urijah 
the  priest  built  an  altar :  according  to  all  that  king  Ahaz 

ij  had  sent  from  Damascus,  so  did  Urijah  the  priest  make 
it  against  king  Ahaz  came  from  Damascus.  And  when 
the  king  was  come  from  Damascus,  the  king  saw  the 

13  altar  :  and  the  king  drew  near  unto  the  altar,  and  offered 
thereon.     And  he  burnt  his  burnt  offering  and  his  meal 

14  offering,  and  poured  his  drink  offering,  and  sprinkled  the 
blood  of  his  peace  offerings,  upon  the  altar.  And  the 
brasen  altar,  which  was  before  the  Lord,  he  brought 
from  the  forefront  of  the  house,  from  between  his  altar 

the  king  took  the  first  opportunity  of  inspecting  it,  and  then  con- 
secrated it  in  person.  In  connexion  with  this  ceremony  he  in- 
troduced certain  modifications  of  the  ritual,  which  are  unfortun- 
alely  not  very  intelligible  to  us,  but  have  an  important  bearing 
on  the  history  of  the  temple  cultus.  The  passage  illustrates,  at 
all  events,  even  better  than  ch.  xii,  the  absolute  control  exercised 
by  the  king  over  the  temple  and  its  worship. 

10.  the  altar  .  .  .  Damascus.  Whether  it  was  of  native 
design,  or  recently  imported  from  Assyria,  does  not  appear. 

Urijah  the  priest  is  mentioned   (but  not  nec-essarily  as  a 
friend)  by  Isaiah  in  viii.  2. 

11,  12.  The  LXX  has  a  shorter  and  possibly  purer  text,  but 
the  sense  is  not  affected. 

and    offered    thereon.     Render,    '  and    went    up   upon   it ' 
(see  marg.). 

13.  The  ordinary  rule  seems  to  have  been  for  the  priest  to 
offer  the  sacrifices  of  the  king  (see  verse  15)  ;  but  in  this  high 
function  of  consecrating  a  new  altar  Ahaz  exercises  the  un- 
challenged royal  privilege  of  officiating  in  person. 

14.  In  the  LXX  the  words  '  and  the  altar'  are  wanting  at  the 
beginning,  and  the  first  clause  reads  as  the  continuation  of 
verse  13.  Accepting  this  text,  we  may  render:  'and  sprinkled 
.  .  .  upon  the  altar  (14)  of  brass  which  was  before  Yahweh  ;  and 
drew  near  from  before  the  house,  between  the  house  and  the 
(new)  altar,  and  applied  it  (the  blood)  to  the  north  side  of  the 
(new)  altar.'     (So  virtually  W.  R.  Smith,  Rel.  of  Sent. -,  Note  K.) 


II   KINGS   16.  15-17.     JKJ  371 

and  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  put  it  on  the  north  side 
of  his  altar.     And  king  Ahaz  commanded  Urijah  the  15 
priest,  saying,  Upon  the  great  altar  burn  the  morning 
burnt  offering,  and  the  evening  meal  offering,  and  the 
king's   burnt  offering,  and  his  meal  offering,  with  the 
burnt  offering  of  all  the  people  of  the  land,  and  their 
meal  offering,  and  their  drink  offerings;   and  sprinkle 
upon  it  all  the  blood  of  the  burnt  offering,  and  all  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifice :  but  the  brasen  altar  shall  be  for 
me  to  inquire  by.     Thus  did  Urijah  the  priest,  according  16 
to  all  that  king  Ahaz  commanded.    [KJ]  And  king  Ahaz  17 
cut  off  the  borders  of  the  bases,  and  removed  the  laver 

The  essence  of  the  initiatory  ceremony  would  then  lie  in  trans- 
ferring the  efficacy  of  the  old  altar  to  the  new  by  sprinkling  the 
sacrificial  blood  first  on  the  one  and  then  on  the  other.  The 
rendering  is  not  free  from  difficulty  ;  but  it  gives  a  better  idea 
than  the  common  view,  that  the  old  altar  was  shifted  to  make 
place  for  the  new.  Tliat,  surely,  must  have  been  thought  of 
before  the  new  altar  was  built. 

15.  The  purport  of  the  regulation  seems  to  be  that  the  new 
altar  is  to  replace  the  old  for  all  ordinary  purposes,  while  the 
brasen  altar  *  is  reserved  for  one  particular  kind  of  offering  by 
the  king  himself  (W.  R.  Smith,  ibid.).  Unfortunately  the  nature 
of  that  offering  is  not  clear.  The  obscurity  lies  in  the  words 
rendered  for  me  to  inqiiire  by,  of  which  no  thoroughly 
acceptable  interpretation  has  been  given.  The  verb  is  used  in 
Rabbinical  Hebrew  of  examining  sacrificial  animals  for  blemishes 
(see  Burney,  Notes,  p.  327).  Inspection  of  the  entrails  of  victims 
was  a  common  form  of  divination  in  Babylonia  (cf.  Ezek.  xxi.  21)  ; 
is  it  possible  that  we  have  here  the  introduction  of  that  custom 
into  the  religion  of  Israel  by  Ahaz  ?  The  least  sensible  of  all 
explanations  is  offered  by  Benzinger  and  Kittel :  *  for  me  to  think 
over '  (viz.  where  I  shall  put  it !). 

xvi.  17,18.  Spoliation  of  the  Temple.  The  sound  administration 
of  Azariah  and  Jotham  may  be  supposed  to  have  left  to  Ahaz 
a  well  replenished  treasury  ;  but  it  was  soon  drained  by  the 
annual  tribute  imposed  by  the  king  of  Ass3'ria,  Hence  the 
necessity  for  breaking  up  some  of  the  temple  furniture,  as 
recorded  in  verse  17. 

17.  On  the  borders  ^or,  'panels')  and  bases,  see  i  Kings 
vii.  27  ff.  ;  on  the  sea  and  oxen,  vii.  23  ff. 

B  b    2 


372  II    KINGS    16.   18—17.1.     K J  D 

from  off  them ;  and  took  down  the  sea  from  off  the 
brasen  oxen  that  were  under  it,  and  put  it  upon  a 
i8  pavement  of  stone.  And  the  covered  way  for  the 
sabbath  that  they  had  built  in  the  house,  and  the  king's 
entry  without,  turned  he  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord, 

19  because  of  the  king  of  Assyria.  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the 
acts  of  Ahaz  which  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the 

20  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?  And  Ahaz 
slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  with  his  fathers  in 
the  city  of  David :  and  Hezekiah  his  son  reigned  in  his 
stead. 

17      In  the  twelfth   year  of  Ahaz  king  of  Judah  began 

18.  The  first  part  of  the  verse  reads  in  LXX  :  *  And  the 
foundation  of  the  chair  (throne  ?)  he  built  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord.'  Either  way  the  clause  is  obscure  to  us,  as  is  also  the  one 
following  ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  what  appear  to  be 
structural  alterations  could  be  becanse  of  the  king  of  Assyria. 
On  the  other  hand,  these  last  words  give  a  good  sense  in 
connexion  with  verse  17. 

xvii.   1-6.     Hoshea,  the  Last  King  of  Israel. 

The  extremely  condensed  narrative  of  verses  3-6  gives  the 
following  representation  of  the  course  of  the  events  which  led  to 
the  fall  of  the  northern  kingdom.  Hoshea,  who  had  held  the 
throne  as  a  vassal  of  Tiglath-pileser  III  (see  on  xv.  30),  must  have 
revolted  under  Shalmaneser  IV,  who  accordingly  leads  an  expedi- 
tion against  him.  Hoshea  then  makes  his  submission,  and  pays 
tribute.  Afterwards  he  is  detected  in  treasonable  negotiations 
with  the  king  of  Egypt,  whereupon  Shalmaneser  puts  him  in 
prison — when  and  how  is  not  stated.  Finally  the  Assyrian  king 
marches  against  the  country,  besieges  Samaria  for  three  years, 
and  captures  it  in  the  ninth  year  of  Hoshea's  reign. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  account  presents  several  historical 
difficulties,  (i)  It  appears  to  imply  two  revolts  of  Hoshea,  and 
two  (if  not  three)  campaigns  of  Shalmaneser.  But  the  Assyrian 
records  leave  room  for  only  one  campaign  against  Israel  in  the 
short  reign  of  Shalmaneser  IV  (727-722).  The  fall  of  Samaria 
took  place  in  the  first  year  of  Sargon  (certainly  not  later  than 
721)  ;  hence  the  siege  must  have  commenced  at  latest  in  723  ;  and 
it  is  expressly  recorded  that  in  726  no  foreign  expeditions  were 


II   KINGS  17.  2.     D  373 

Hoshea  the  son  of  Elah  to  reign  in  Samaria  over  Israel, 
and  reigned  nine  years.     And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  2 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  yet  not  as  the  kings  of  Israel 

undertaken.  It  is  in  the  highest  degree  unlikely  that  all  the 
occurrences  of  verses  3-5  took  place  in  the  years  725-4,  if  they 
refer  to  two  different  campaigns  with  a  rebellion  between.  (2)  It 
is  thought  incredible  that  Samaria  should  have  held  out  for  three 
years  after  the  king  had  been  taken  prisoner.  (3)  The  capture  of 
the  city  is  dated  in  the  ninth  year  of  Hoshea,  showing  that  in  the 
view  of  the  writer  he  was  still  reigning  when  Samaria  was  taken. 
On  these  last  two  points  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  have  so  far 
thrown  no  light  whatever. 

Some  scholars,  following  Winckler  {Alttest.  Uttteis.,  p.  15  ff.), 
explain  these  difficulties  by  the  hypothesis  of  two  parallel  narratives 
of  one  campaign  :  the  first  (verses  3,  4)  describing  the  fate  of  the 
king,  and  the  second  (verses  5,  6)  the  fate  of  the  capital.  Of  these 
verses  5,  6  are  a  duplicate  of  xviii.  9-1 1,  which  may  be  plausibly 
assigned  to  the  annals  of  Judah.  To  bring  verses  3,  4  into  line 
with  the  theory  one  or  other  of  two  expedients,  both  suggested 
by  Winckler  ^,  is  adopted,  (a)  Benzinger  reads  3^  and  4*  as  a 
retrospective  parenthesis — '  (for  Hoshea  had  been  his  vassal  and 
brought  him  tribute  ;  but  the  king  of  Assyria  had  found,  &c.).' 
The  slight  emendation  necessary  to  elicit  this  sense  is  itself 
unsatisfactory  in  point  of  syntax.  (b)  Kittel  adopts  the  other 
alternative,  which  is  to  delete  the  name  Shalmaneser  in  verse  3, 
and  take  that  verse  as  referring  to  Hoshea's  first  submission  to 
Tiglath-pileser  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Pekah.  A  period  of 
nine  years  would  then  intervene  between  verse  3  and  verse  4, 
which  commences  the  account  of  Shalmaneser's  expedition  of  724. 
But  that  involves  the  unnatural  assumption  that  Hoshea,  the 
leader  of  the  Assyrian  party,  had  to  be  coerced  into  submission 
by  Tiglath-pileser.  It  does  not  appear  to  us  quite  certain  that 
verses  3-6  cannot  be  read  as  a  continuous  narrative  of  Shalmaneser's 
single  campaign,  on  the  lines  indicated  in  the  notes  below. 

xvii.   I,  2,  Introduction. 

1.  the  twelfth  year  of  Ahaz.  This  appears  to  presuppose 
a  ten  years'  reign  of  Pekahiah  (see  on  xv.  23).  [Nine  years  of 
Pekahiah  + nineteen  of  Pekah  =  two  years  of  Azariah  + fifteen  of 
Jotham  + eleven  of  Ahaz.] 

3.  The  grounds  of  this  comparatively  lenient  estimate  of  Hoshea 
do  not  appear. 

^  Winckler  has  now  withdrawn  his  own  solution  in  favour  of  that 
of  Kittel  (see  below;  cf.  KAT\  p.  268). 


374  n    KINGS  17.  3-6.     DKI 

3  that  were  before  him.  [KI]  Against  him  came  up 
Shahiianeser  king  of  Assyria ;   and  Hoshea  became  his 

4  servant,  and  brought  him  presents.  And  the  king  of 
Assyria  found  conspiracy  in  Hoshea;  for  he  had  sent 
messengers  to  So  king  of  Egypt,  and  offered  no  present 
to  the  king  of  Assyria,  as  he  had  done  year  by  year : 
therefore  the  king  of  Assyria  shut  him  up,  and  bound 

5  him  in  prison.  Then  the  king  of  Assyria  came  up 
throughout  all  the  land,  and  went  up  to  Samaria,  and 

6  besieged  it  three  years.     In  the  ninth  year  of  Hoshea, 

xvii.  3-6.      The  Captivity  of  Israel. 

3.  became  his  servant :  or,  '  made  submission  to  him.'  If  the 
reference  be  to  the  invasion  of  724,  we  must  suppose  that  Hoshea 
went  in  person  to  meet  Shahnaneser,  and  tendered  his  submission 
in  the  usual  manner  by  paying  tribute.  The  question  is  whether 
the  phrase  necessarily  implies  that  the  submission  was  accepted. 
That  is  certainly  the  natural  implication  ;  and  it  might  fairly 
enough  be  urged  that  any  other  exegesis  unduly  strains  the 
language.  If  so,  the  attempt  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  passage 
will  have  to  be  abandoned. 

4.  shut  him  up  :  or,  '  detained  him  in  custody,'  as  the  word 
may  very  well  signify  (Jit.  *  hindered  him ').  We  may  assume, 
that  is,  that  instead  of  reinstating  Hoshea  and  releasing  him, 
Shalmaneser  holds  an  investigation  into  his  past  conduct;  and, 
finding  him  to  have  been  in  correspondence  with  the  king  of 
Egypt,  keeps  him  a  prisoner,  and  determines  to  reduce  the 
kingdom  to  a  province  of  the  Assyrian  empire. 

So  should  probably  read  Seve  (Assyrian,  Shab'i\.  He  has 
commonly  been  identified  with  Sabako,  the  Ethiopian  founder  of 
the  twenty-fifth  dynasty  ;  but  this  is  disputed  by  Assyriologists, 
who  hold  him  to  have  been  either  one  of  the  petty  kings  of  the  Nile 
Delta  (Schrader),  or  the  general  of  the  north-Arabian  king  of 
Muzri  (Winckler). 

5.  Resuming  his  march,  Shalmaneser  advances  to  Samaria  ; 
and  the  army  besieges  it  for  three  years,  he  himself  having  died 
before  its  capture  (see  above). 

6.  In  the  ninth  year.  The  chronological  difficulty  referred  to 
above  need  not  cause  much  embarrassment.  Since  Hoshea 
became  king  in  732,  his  nine  years'  reign  would,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  come  to  an  end  in  724,  two  years  before  the  fall  of  the  city. 
The  statement  in  the  text  would  thus  rest  on  a  natural  miscalcula- 
tion of  the  compiler.      Nor  is  there  anj'thing  incredible   in  the 


II    KINGS   17.  7.     KID'^  375 

the  king  of  Assyria  took  Samaria,  and  carried  Israel 
away  unto  Assyria,  and  placed  them  in  Halah^  and  in 
Habor,  on  the  river  of  Gozan,  and  in  the  cities  of  the 
Medes.     [D^]  And  it  was  so,  because  the  children  of  7 

supposition  that  the  capital  offered  a  strenuous  resistance  after 
the  arrest  of  the  king. 

took  Samaria.  The  following  are  the  words  of  Sargon's 
inscription:  *  Samaria  I  besieged  and  captured;  27,290  of  its 
inhabitants  I  carried  away  ;  fifty  chariots  I  collected  from  them  ; 
the  rest  I  allowed  to  keep  their  property  ;  I  set  my  governor  over 
them,  and  imposed  the  tribute  of  the  former  king  upon  them' 
(COT,  ad  he).  The  captives  were  deported  to  Northern  Meso- 
potamia and  Media. 

Habor  [on]  the  river  of  Gozan  is  the  modern  Habur  {ChahovAS 
of  the  Greeks),  a  northern  affluent  of  the  Euphrates,  entering  it 
about  the  latitude  of  Hamath  on  the  Orontes. 

Gozan  (Assyrian,  Guzanii)  seems  to  have  been  a  province  on 
the  upper  waters  of  that  river,  west  of  Nisibis. 

Halah  (which  the  LXX  takes  to  have  been  a  river)  is  less 
securely  identified  ;  though  a  country  called  Halahhu,  near  Haran, 
would  suit  the  conditions  (see  COT).  If  the  LXX  were  right  in 
taking  Halah  as  a  river,  a  conjecture  of  Winckler's  would  deserve 
consideration — that  the  name  is  a  mistake  for  Balih,  the  next 
tributary  of  the  Euphrates  west  of  the  Habur. 

xvii.  7-23.     Review  of  the  History  of  the  Northern  Kingdom. 

The  final  extinction  of  the  Northern  Israel — the  larger  and  more 
important  section  of  Yahweh's  ancient  people — was  an  event  that 
could  not  fail  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  all  thoughtful  readers 
of  the  national  history  ;  and  the  editor  is  naturally  led  into  a  series 
of  reflections  on  the  religious  significance  of  that  great  catastrophe. 
He  shows  it  to  have  been  the  inevitable  consequence  of  persistent 
apostasy  from  Yahweh,  and  provocation  of  Him  by  a  gradual 
assimilation  of  the  worst  features  of  the  surrounding  heathenism. 
The  stages  of  this  declension  are  enumerated  nearly  in  historical 
order  :  first  the  adoption  of  the  Canaanite  high  places  with  their 
idolatrous  emblems,  leading  to  the  worship  of  images  ;  then,  in 
defiance  of  all  the  warnings  of  Yahweh  through  the  prophets,  the 
introduction  of  foreign  religions,  the  astral  worship  of  Babylonia, 
the  cult  of  the  Phoenician  Baal,  and  the  sacrifice  of  children  to 
Molech.  Finally,  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  evil  influence  of 
Jeroboam  I,  who  had  established  the  worship  of  the  golden 
calves  as  the  religion  of  the  state. 

This  epilogue  cannot  as  a  whole  have  been  written  before  the 
Exile,  for  in  verses   19,   20  not  only  is  Judah  involved  in  the 


376  II   KINGS    17.  8-11.     D^ 

Israel  had  sinned  against  the  Lord  their  God,  which 
brought  them  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  from  under 
the  hand  of  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt,  and  had  feared 

8  other  gods,  and  walked  in  the  statutes  of  the  nations, 
whom  the  Lord  cast  out  from  before  the  children  of 

9  Israel,  and  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  which  they  made.  And 
the  children  of  Israel  did  secretly  things  that  were  not 
right  against  the  Lord  their  God,  and  they  built  them 
high  places  in  all  their  cities,  from  the  tower  of  the 

10  watchmen  to  the  fenced  city.     And  they  set  them  up 
pillars  and  Asherim  upon  every  high  hill,  and  under 

11  every  green  tree :  and  there  they  burnt  incense  in  all  the 
high  places,  as  did  the  nations  whom  the  Lord  carried 


condemnation  of  Israel,  but  the  captivity  of  the  whole  nation  is 
looked  back  on  as  an  accomplished  fact.  The  survey  includes 
religious  sins  which  were  not  prominent  in  Israel  (host  of  heaven, 
human  sacrifice),  but  were  eminently  characteristic  of  the  southern 
kingdom  in  the  seventh  century.  The  style,  moreover,  is  peculiar, 
being  strongly  coloured  by  the  phraseology  of  Jeremiah  (see 
Driver,  Introd/'  p.  203).  These  are  indications  that  the  passage 
is  mainly  the  work  of  the  younger  Deuteronomic  editor,  who 
wrote  during  or  after  the  Exile.  The  hand  of  the  original 
compiler — the  author  of  the  framework — is  perhaps  to  be  recog- 
nized in  verses  21-23  (which  fit  in  badly  with  the  context),  where 
the  fall  of  Israel  is  traced  to  the  one  sin  on  which  that  writer  has 
most  insisted — the  calf- worship  of  Jeroboam  I.  (So  Stade  ;  Kittel 
assigns  verse  18  also  to  the  original  compiler.) 

7.  And  it  was  so,  because.  Strictly,  'And  because,'  introducing 
a  long  protasis  of  which  the  apodosis  would  not  be  reached  till 
verse  18,  But  such  a  construction  is  un-Hebraic  ;  and  it  is  much 
better  to  read,  with  LXX  (L)  :  '  And  the  wrath  of  Yahweh  was 
on  Israel,  because.' 

9.  did  secretly :  Heb.  '  concealed.'  The  text  is  doubtful. 
Perhaps  it  should  be  altered  to  'devised'  (Klostermann). 

ftora.  the  tower  .  .  .  city :  apparently  a  proverbial  ex- 
pression denoting  everything  that  could  be  called  a  city :  but 
see  xviii.  8. 

10.  On  pillars  and  Asherim  see  on  i  Kings  xiv.  23, 
upon  every  hig-h  hill,  &c,  :  cf,  xvi.  4  ;  Jer,  ii.  20,  iii,  6,  13. 

11.  burnt  incense :  'sacrificed.' 


II   KINGS  17.  12-18.     D^D  377 

away  before  them  ;  and  wrought  wicked  things  to  provoke 
the  Lord  to  anger :  and  they  served  idols,  whereof  the  1 2 
Lord  had  said  unto  them,  Ye  shall  not  do  this  thing. 
Yet  the  Lord  testified  unto  Israel,  and  unto  Judah,  by  13 
the  hand  of  every  prophet,  and  of  every  seer,  saying, 
Turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways,  and  keep  my  commandments 
and  my  statutes,  according  to  all  the  law  which  I  com- 
manded your  fathers,  and  which  I  sent  to  you  by  the 
hand   of  my   servants   the   prophets.     Notwithstanding  14 
they  would  not  hear,  but  hardened  their  neck,  like  to 
the  neck  of  their  fathers,  who  believed  not  in  the  Lord 
their   God.     And   they   rejected   his   statutes,   and   his  15 
covenant    that    he    made   with   their   fathers,    and    his 
testimonies   which   he   testified  unto  them ;   and   they 
followed  vanity,  and  became  vain,  and  'we7it  after  the 
nations  that  were  round  about  them,  concerning  whom 
the  Lord  had  charged  them  that  they  should  not  do  like 
them.     And  they  forsook  all  the  commandments  of  the  16 
Lord  their  God,  and  made  them  molten  images,  even 
two  calves,  and  made  an  Asherah,  and  worshipped  all 
the  host  of  heaven,  and  served  Baal.     And  they  caused  17 
their  sons  and  their  daughters  to  pass  through  the  fire, 
and  used  divination  and  enchantments,  and  sold  them- 
selves to  do  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
to  provoke  him  to  anger.     [D]  Therefore  the  Lord  was  iS 

13.  Cf.  the  phrases  with  Jer.  vii.  25,  xi.  7,  xviii.  11,  xxv.  4f., 
XXXV.  15,  xxxvi.  3,  7. 

and  of  every  seer  is  perhaps  an  explanatory  gloss. 

14.  would  not  hear :  Jer.  vii.  26,  xi.  8,  &c. 

hardened  their  neck :    Deut.  x.   16  ;   Jer.  vii.  26,  xvii.   23, 
xix.   15. 

15.  followed  vanity  .  .  .  vain:  Jer.  ii.  5. 

16.  even  two  calves  is  a  reader's  gloss,  unduly  restricting  the 
reference  of  the  preceding  word  (*  molten  images '). 

all  the  host  of  heaven.     See  later  on  xxi.  3. 

17.  caused  their  sons  .  .  .     See  on  xvi.  3. 


378  II    KINGS   17.   19-24.     D  D- D  KI 

very  angry  with  Israel,  and  removed  them  out  of  his 
sight :  there  was  none  left  but  the  tribe  of  Judah  only. 

19  [D^]  Also  Judah  kept  not  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord  their  God,  but  walked  in  the  statutes  of  Israel 

20  which  they  made.  And  the  Lord  rejected  all  the  seed 
of  Israel,  and  afflicted  them,  and  delivered  them  into  the 
hand  of  spoilers,  until  he  had  cast  them  out  of  his  sight. 

21  [D]  For  he  rent  Israel  from  the  house  of  David;  and 
they  made  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  king :  and 
Jeroboam  drave  Israel  from  following  the  Lord,  and 

22  made  them  sin  a  great  sin.  And  the  children  of  Israel 
walked  in  all  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  which  he  did ;  they 

23  departed  not  from  them ;  until  the  Lord  removed  Israel 
out  of  his  sight,  as  he  spake  by  the  hand  of  all  his 
servants  the  prophets.  So  Israel  was  carried  away  out 
of  their  own  land  to  Assyria,  unto  this  day. 

24  [KI]   And   the  king   of  Assyria   brought   men   from 

18.  the  tribe  of  Judali  only.      See  on  i  Kings  xii.  20. 

19,  20  are  evidently  a  later  comment  on  verse  18,  of  which  verse 
verses  21-23  are  perhaps  the  natural  sequel.  If  Kittel  be  right 
in  thinking  that  verse  18  is  part  of  the  original  pre-Exilic  epilogue, 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  verses  19  f.  are  by  the  same  author 
as  verses  7-17. 

21-23  give  a  new  and  simpler  account  of  the  reasons  of  Israel's 
fall  :  viz.  that  from  the  time  it  became  a  separate  kingdom  its 
public  religion  had  been  vitiated  by  the  great  sin  of  calf- worship 
into  which  Jeroboam  I  had  led  it.  This  harmonizes  so  completely 
with  the  compiler's  reiterated  condemnation  of  the  offence  as  to 
make  it  highly  probable  that  the  verses  were  written  by  him. 

xvii.  24-41.  The  Origin  of  the  Samaritans. 
In  accordance  with  the  policy  of  the  later  Assyrian  kings  Sargon 
repeopled  the  subjugated  province  with  captives  from  distant  parts 
of  his  empire.  The  new  colonists  found  tlie  country  infested  with 
lions,  and  concluded  that  they  had  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the 
local  deity,  of  whose  religion  they  were  naturally  ignorant.  The 
king  of  Ass^'ria  accordingly  sent  them  one  of  the  exiled  Israelitish 
priests,  who  took  up  his  residence  in  Beth-el,  and  instructed  them 


II    KINGS    17.  24.     KI  379 

Babylon,  and  from  Cuthah,  and  from  Avva,  and  from 
Hamath  and  Sepharvaim,  and  placed  them  in  the  cities 

in  the  traditional  worship  of  Yahweh.  They  at  the  same  time 
continued  their  ancestral  heathen  rites,  and  transformed  the 
ancient  high  places  into  sanctuaries  of  the  various  gods  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  worship.  Out  of  this  mixture  of  races  and 
religions  arose  the  later  Samaritan  community,  which  caused  so 
much  trouble  to  the  Jews  after  their  return  from  Exile. 

Recent  critics  (Stade,  &c.)  distinguish  three  strata  in  the 
narrative  :  {a)  verses  24-28,  an  account  of  the  repopulation  of 
the  land,  supposed  to  be  taken  from  an  ancient  source,  probably 
the  chronicles  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  To  this  verse  41  is 
taken  to  be  the  editorial  conclusion.  (6)  Verses  29-34*^,  an 
enumeration  of  the  deities  worshipped  by  the  colonists,  assigned 
to  the  younger  Deuteronomist.  (c)  Verses  34  ^'-40  are  plainly 
a  late  addition,  which  has  indeed  no  explicit  reference  to  the 
Samaritans  at  all  The  grounds  for  separating  (a)  and  (b),  as  the 
work  of  different  authors,  are  however  not  very  cogent. 

xvii.  24-28.  T/ie  Foreign  Colonists  in  Samaria.  Winckler  has 
tried  to  show  that  the  incident  belongs  to  the  reign  of  Asshur- 
banipal  (668-626%  on  the  ground  mainly  that  Sargon  took  no 
captives  from  Bab3'lonia,  whereas  Asshurbanipal  expressly 
mentions  Babylon,  Cutha,  and  Sippar,  as  cities  subdued  by  him 
(c.  648),  although  he  says  also  that  he  allowed  their  inhabitants 
to  remain  in  Bab3'lonia  (KIB,  p.  193).  This  view  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  terms  of  the  passage  before  us  ;  and  it  derives 
some  confirmation  from  Ezra  iv.  10,  where  the  Samaritans  trace 
their  foundation  to  '  the  great  and  noble  Osnappar '  (i.  e.  Asshur- 
banipal). But  in  verse  2  of  the  same  chapter  they  trace  their 
ancestry  to  Esarhaddon.  It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  the 
colonization  of  Samaria  was  effected  by  successive  stages  under 
different  Assj^rian  kings  ;  and  Sargon's  own  inscriptions  contain 
several  references  to  the  settlement  of  captives  in  Bit  Huniri  or 
Samaria  (see  COT,  p.  276 ff.). 

24.  The  king  of  Assjrria  would  naturally  be  Sargon,  the 
conqueror  of  Samaria  ;  but  there  is  no  difficulty  in  supposing  that 
the  narrative  belongs  to  a  later  time,  and  that  Asshurbanipal  is  to 
be  understood. 

Cnthah  or  Cuth  (verse  30),  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  of 
Babylonia,  is  identified  with  Tell  Ibrolttm,  north-east  of  Babylon. 
The  Babylonian  name  is  Ruin.  In  later  times  the  Samaritans 
were  called  '  Cuthaeans '  by  the  Jews. 

Avva  is  the  same  as  'Ivvah  (xix.  13),  and,  though  unknown, 
was  probabl}'  a  Syrian  cit}',  like 

Hamath,  on  the  Orontes  (see  on  i  Kings  viii.  65). 


38o  II    KINGS   17.  25-29.     KID^p) 

of  Samaria  instead  of  the  children  of  Israel :  and  they 

25  possessed  Samaria,  and  dwelt  in  the  cities  thereof.  And 
so  it  was,  at  the  beginning  of  their  dwelHng  there,  that 
they  feared  not  the  Lord  :  therefore  the  Lord  sent  lions 

26  among  them,  which  killed  some  of  them.  Wherefore 
they  spake  to  the  king  of  Assyria,  saying,  The  nations 
which  thou  hast  carried  away,  and  placed  in  the  cities  of 
Samaria,  know  not  the  manner  of  the  God  of  the  land : 
therefore  he  hath  sent  lions  among  them,  and,  behold, 
they  slay  them,  because  they  know  not  the  manner  of 

27  the  God  of  the  land.  Then  the  king  of  Assyria  com- 
manded, saying.  Carry  thither  one  of  the  priests  whom 
ye  brought  from  thence;  and  let  them  go  and  dwell 
there,  and  let  him  teach  them  the  manner  of  the  God  of 

28  the  land.  So  one  of  the  priests  whom  they  had  carried 
away  from   Samaria   came  and  dwelt   in   Beth-el,  and 

29  taught  them  how  they  should  fear  the  Lord.    [D-  ?]  How- 


Sepharvaim  is  also  mentioned  in  xix.  13  (cf.  xviii.  34),  along 
with  Hamath  and  'Ivvah,  whence  it  has  been  concluded  that  it  too 
must  have  been  a  city  of  Syria,  perhaps  the  Shabarain  conquered 
by  Shalmaneser  IV  (cf.  Sibraim  in  Ezek.  xlvii.  16).  More  probably 
in  this  passage  it  is  the  Babylonian  Sippara,  midway  between  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  north-west  of  Kutu.  Winckler  argues 
that  a  transportation  of  Syrians  to  Palestine  is  unlikely,  on  account 
of  the  proximity  of  the  two  countries  ;  and  considers  that  Hamath 
and  'Avva  have  been  inserted  by  mistake  from  xix.  13.  There 
then  remain  Babylon,  Cuthah,  and  Sippara,  three  neighbouring 
cities  of  Babylonia,  mentioned  together  in  the  annals  of  Asshur- 
banipal  (see  above). 

26.  the  manner  of  tlie  G-od  of  the  land :  the  customs  by  which 
intercourse  with  the  local  deity  was  regulated.  In  ancient  Semitic 
religion,  not  only  had  each  land  its  own  god,  but  each  god  had 
his  own  ceremonial  code,  which  had  to  be  observed  by  his 
worshippers  (cf.   i  Kings  xx.  23). 

27.  whom  ye  brought:  better,  as  LXX  (L),  'whom  I  carried 
away.'  The  two  following  verbs  should  probably  be  changed  to 
the  singular. 

28.  taught  them  how  they  should  fear.  Cf.  Isaiah's  description 


II    KINGS   17.  30-35.     D2(?)  Z  381 

beit  every  nation  made  gods  of  their  own,  and  put  them 
in  the  houses  of  the  high  places  which  the  Samaritans 
had  made,  every  nation  in  their  cities  wherein  they  dwelt. 
And  the  men  of  Babylon  made  Succoth-benoth,  and  the  30 
men  of  Cuth  made  Nergal,  and  the  men  of  Hamath 
made  Ashima,  and  the  Avvites  made  Nibhaz  and  Tartak,  31 
and  the  Sepharvites  burnt  their  children  in  the  fire  to 
Adiammelech  and  Anammelech,  the  gods  of  Sepharvaim. 
So  they  feared  the  Lord,  and  made  unto  them  from  32 
among   themselves    priests   of  the   high   places,    which 
sacrificed  for  them  in  the  houses  of  the  high  places. 
They  feared  the  Lord,  and  served  their  own  gods,  after  33 
the  manner  of  the  nations  from  among  whom  they  had 
been  carried  away.     Unto  this  day  they  do  after  the  34 
former  manners :  [Z]  they  fear  not  the  Lord,  neither  do 
they  after  their  statutes,  or  after  their  ordinances,  or  after 
the   law  or  after  the  commandment  which    the  Lord 
commanded   the  children  of  Jacob,  whom   he  named 
Israel ;  with  whom  the  Lord  had  made  a  covenant,  and  35 
charged  them,  saying,  Ye  shall  not  fear  other  gods,  nor 

of  the  conventional  religion  of  his  time  (xxix.  13)  :  '  Their  fear  of 
me  is  a  human  tradition  learned  by  rote.' 

xvii.  29-34*.      The  Foreign  Cults  of  Samaria. 

30.  Succotli-benoth.  This  name  has  not  been  explained.  The 
first  part  is  possibly  that  of  a  Babylonian  deity  Sakkuth  (see  the 
Commentaries  on  Amos  v.  26) ;  the  second  has  been  supposed  to  be 
a  form  of  Bdmtu,  a  title  of  the  goddess  Istar. 

ZTergal,  a  war-god  in  the  Babylonian  pantheon,  also  the  god 
of  the  nether-world,  is  known  to  have  been  the  tutelary  deity  of 
the  city  of  Kutu  {COT,  p.  283).  The  remaining  Divine  names  are 
altogether  obscure. 

32.  sacrificed:  lif.  'acted,' i.e.  'officiated.' 

xvii.  34  "^-40.  Further  Conclcnmation  of  the  Northern  People. 
The  passage  has  no  obvious  connexion  with  what  immediately 
precedes.  The  opening  words,  '  They  fear  not  the  Lord,'  are  in 
direct  opposition  to  verses  32,  33,  41  ;  and  there  is  hardly  anything 


382  II    KINGS   17.  36— 18.  I.     ZD(?)D 

bow  yourselves  to  them,  nor  serve  them,  nor  sacrifice  to 

36  them :  but  the  Lord,  who  brought  you  up  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt  with  great  power  and  with  a  stretched  out 
arm,  him  shall  ye  fear,  and  unto  him  shall  ye  bow  your- 

37  selves,  and  to  him  shall  ye  sacrifice :  and  the  statutes 
and  the  ordinances,  and  the  law  and  the  commandment, 
which  he  wrote  for  you,  ye  shall  observe  to  do  for  ever- 

38  more ;  and  ye  shall  not  fear  other  gods :  and  the 
covenant  that  I  have  made  with  you  ye  shall  not  forget ; 

39  neither  shall  ye  fear  other  gods  :  but  the  Lord  your  God 
shall  ye  fear;  and  he  shall  deliver  you  out  of  the  hand 

40  of  all  your  enemies.     Howbeit  they  did  not  hearken,  but 

41  they  did  after  their  former  manner.  [D?]  So  these 
nations  feared  the  Lord,  and  served  their  graven 
images ;  their  children  likewise,  and  their  children's 
children,  as  did  their  fathers,  so  do  they  unto  this  day. 

18      [D]  Now  it  came  to  pass  in  the  third  year  of  Hoshea 

from  beginning  to  end  to  show  whether  the  writer  has  the 
Samaritans  in  view.  He  goes  back  on  the  whole  history  of 
the  northern  kingdom,  and  supplements  the  indictment  of 
verses  7-23. 

xvii.  41  is  a  note  either  of  the  compiler,  or  of  another  editor. 
unto  this  day  :  cf.  verse  34*. 

xviii-xxv.  History  of  Judah  alone. 
xviii-xx.  Hezekiah  and  Isaiah.  (Cf.  2  Chron.  xxix-xxxii.) 
For  the  history  of  Hezekiah  the  compiler  had  at  his  disposal 
an  important  prophetical  work,  which  enabled  him  to  supplement 
the  bare  chronicle  of  current  events  supplied  by  his  annalistic 
authorities.  This  was  a  biography  of  the  great  contemporary 
prophet  Isaiah,  similar  in  general  character  to  the  prophetic 
narratives  of  Elijah  and  Elisha  which  enrich  the  history  of  the 
northern  kingdom.  To  this  source  we  owe  the  whole  of  the 
section  xviii.  17 — xx.  19,  which  relates  three  incidents,  in  each  of 
which  Isaiah  plays  a  conspicuous  part.  Since  this  passage  is 
reproduced  without  material  variation  in  the  Book  of  Isaiah 
(ch.   xxxvi-xxxix),   it    was    a    natural    conjecture    that    it    was 


II    KINGS  18.  2-4.     D  383 

son  of  Elah  king  of  Israel,  that  Hezekiah  the  son  of  Ahaz 
king  of  Judah  began  to  reign.  Twenty  and  five  years  2 
old  was  he  when  he  began  to  reign;  and  he  reigned 
twenty  and  nine  years  in  Jerusalem :  and  his  mother's 
name  was  Abi  the  daughter  of  Zechariah.  And  he  did  3 
that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  according 
to  all  that  David  his  father  had  done.     He  removed  the  4 

written  by  Isaiah  himself,  and  had  been  copied  from  his  pages 
by  the  compiler  of  Kings.  A  comparison  of  the  two  texts,  how- 
ever, proves  that  on  the  contrary  the  editor  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah 
found  the  narrative  in  the  Book  of  Kings,  and  transferred  it  thence 
to  his  own  work  (see  Driver,  Introd.^  p.  226  f.).  There  are, 
besides,  insurmountable  historical  and  literary  objections  to  the 
theory  that  the  author  was  Isaiah  himself.  It  is  equally  certain 
that  the  passage  is  not  the  composition  of  the  compiler  of  Kings, 
but  was  borrowed  by  him  from  an  older  writing,  which  may 
perhaps  be  identified  with  the  '  Vision  of  Isaiah  the  prophet  the 
son  of  Amoz  '  referred  to  in  2  Chron.  xxxii.  32. 

The  record  of  the  reign  falls  into  the  following  divisions  : 
(i)  The  introduction,  including  notices  of  Hezekiah's  reforms  in 
the  public  religion,  and  his  conquest  of  Philistine  territory, 
xviii.  1-8  ;  (2)  a  second  account  of  the  fall  of  Samaria,  xviii.  9-12  ; 

(3)  narratives  of  Sennacherib's  invasion  of  Judah,  xviii.  13 — xix.  37  ; 

(4)  Hezekiah's  sickness  and  recovery,  xx.  i-ii  ;  (5)  embassy  of 
Merodach-baladan,  xx.  12-19;  and  (6)  conclusion,  xx.  20,  21. 

xviii.  1-8.  Introduction.  The  reign  of  Hezekiah  was  memorable 
for  the  first  attempt  at  a  thorough  reformation  of  the  cultus,  by 
the  suppression  of  the  provincial  sanctuaries  and  the  destruction 
of  idolatrous  emblems  (verse  4).  The  accuracy  of  this  statement 
has  been  widely  disputed,  but  on  grounds  which  seem  very 
insufficient.  The  notice  gives  no  indication  of  the  period  of  the 
reign  when  the  work  was  undertaken.  There  is  much  probability 
in  the  view  that  it  took  place  after  the  Assyrian  invasion  of  701,  and 
in  consequence  of  the  signal  deliverance  which  Jerusalem,  alone  of 
the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  then  experienced  (see  W.  R.  Smith, 
Prophets'^,  pp.  359-364).  That  it  was  due  largely  to  the  influence  of 
Isaiah  on  the  king  can  hardly  be  doubted. 

1.  The  synchronism  is  not  in  agreement  with  xvi.  i.  It  was 
probably  arrived  at  by  reckoning  backwards  from  the  data  of 
xviii.  9  :  the  sixth  year  of  Hezekiah  being  the  ninth  of  Hoshea, 
his  first  (complete)  year  would  be  the  fourth  of  that  king,  so  that 
his  reign  would  commence  in  the  third  of  Hoshea. 

2.  For  Abi,  read  '  Abijah,'  as  2  Chron.  xxix.  i. 


384  11    KINGS  18.  5-8.     D 

high  places,  and  brake  the  pillars,  and  cut  down  the 
Asherah  :  and  he  brake  in  pieces  the  brasen  serpent  that 
Moses  had  made;  for  unto  those  days  the  children  of 
Israel  did  burn  incense  to  it ;  and  he  called  it  Nehushtan. 

5  He  trusted  in  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel ;  so  that  after 
him  was  none  like  him  among  all  the  kings  of  Judah,  nor 

6  among  the77i  that  were  before  him.  For  he  clave  to  the 
Lord,  he  departed  not  from  following  him,  but  kept  his 
commandments,  which  the  Lord  commanded   Moses. 

7  And  the  Lord  was  with  him  ;  whithersoever  he  went  forth 
he  prospered  :  and  he  rebelled  against  the  king  of  Assyria, 

8  and  served  him  not.  He  smote  the  Philistines  unto 
Gaza  and  the  borders  thereof,  from  the  tower  of  the 
watchmen  to  the  fenced  city. 

4.  The  word  Asherah  should  probably  be  plural,  as  in  LXX. 
See  further  on  i  Kings  xiv.  23. 

the  brasen  serpent  that  Moses  had  made  :  cf.  Num.  xxi.  9. 

and  he  called  it :  better,  as  marg.,  '  and  it  was  called.'  Either 
rendering  is  defensible,  but  a  statement  regarding  the  real  name 
of  the  idol  is  much  more  to  be  expected  than  one  as  to  what 
Hezekiah  called  it  in  the  act  of  destroying  it.  Only,  in  this  case 
we  must  not  take  the  name  ITehnshtan  as  a  diminutive  of  contempt 
( =  '  piece  of  brass  '\  It  is  not  at  all  certain  that  the  word  is 
a  derivative  of  nehosheth  (brass),  although  the  Massoretes  under- 
stood it  so.  More  probably  it  is  connected  with  the  word  nahdsh 
(meaning  'serpent').  Noldeke  considers  it  a  compound  of  this 
word  with  tan  (dragon) ;  while  Klostermann  takes  the  latter 
element  of  the  compound  to  \>q.  yathan,  and  explains  the  name  as 
*  primaeval  serpent.' 

horn  incense:  'sacrifice.*  We  have  here  an  interesting 
proof  of  the  persistence  of  serpent-worship  in  Israel  down  to 
this  comparatively  late  date.  That  the  idol  stood  in  the  temple 
and  was  an  emblem  of  Yahweh,  as  is  often  assumed,  is  not  stated. 

7.  he  rebelled  :  anticipating  the  fuller  account  in  verses  13  ff. 

8.  This  Philistine  campaign  may  also  belong  to  the  latter  half 
of  Hezekiah's  reign.  In  701  Sennacherib  assigned  a  portion  of 
Judaean  territory  to  his  faithful  vassal  the  king  of  Gaza  ;  and  it  is 
not  improbable  that  the  re-conquest  of  this  territory  was  the 
occasion  of  the  struggle  which  ended  in  the  defeat  of  Gaza. 

from  the  tower  :  cf.  xvii.  9. 


II    KINGS   18.  9-13.     KJDKJ  385 

[KJ]  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  fourth  year  of  king  9 
Hezekiah,  which  was  the  seventh  year  of  Hoshea  son  of 
Elah  king  of  Israel,  that  Shalmaneser  king  of  Assyria 
came  up  against  Samaria,  and  besieged  it.     And  at  the  10 
end  of  three  years  they  took  it :  even  in  the  sixth  year  of 
Hezekiah,  which  was  the  ninth  year  of  Hoshea  king  of 
Israel,   Samaria  was  taken.     And   the  king  of  Assyria  11 
carried  Israel  away  unto  Assyria,  and  put  them  in  Halah, 
and  in  Habor,  011  the  river  of  Gozan,  and  in  the  cities  of 
the  Medes  :   [D]  because  they  obeyed  not  the  voice  of  12 
the  Lord  their  God,  but  transgressed  his  covenant,  even 
all  that  Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord  commanded,  and 
would  not  hear  it,  nor  do  it. 

[KJ]  Now  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  king  Hezekiah  did  13 

xviii.  9-12.  The  Fall  of  Samaria.  Verses  9-1 1  are  almost 
identical  with  xvii.  5,  6,  and  may  possibly  be  an  extract  from  the 
annals  of  Judah,  which  was  repeated  in  the  account  of  the  northern 
kingdom  :  see  on  xvii.  3-6  above.  The  dates,  however,  must 
have  been  added  bj'  the  compiler;  we  have  already  seen  that 
they  arc  historically  incorrect  so  far  as  Hoshea  is  concerned,  and 
it  is  doubtful  if  they  are  reliable  as  regards  Hezekiah,  They  are 
certainly  irreconcileable  with  xviii.  13 ;  for  if  722  (the  year  of 
Samaria's  fall)  was  the  sixth  of  Hezekiah,  his  fourteenth  3'ear 
cannot  have  been  701  (the  year  of  Sennacherib's  invasion).  How 
to  adjust  this  important  discrepancy  is  one  of  the  standing 
problems  of  the  chronology  of  Kings  (see  on  verse  13  ;  and 
Introd.,  p.  42  ff.). 

xviii.  13— xix.  37.  Sennacherib'' s  Campaign.  (Cf.  Isa.  xxxvi,xxxvii.) 
The  passage  is  divided  by  recent  critics  into  three  independent 
narratives,  of  which  the  first  (A)  was  added  by  the  compiler  of 
Kings,  while  the  other  two  (B  and  C)  were  perhaps  found  by  him 
already  amalgamated  in  the  prophetical  document  (see  above, 
p.  382)  which  he  used  as  a  source. 

(A)  Ch.  xviii.  13-16  is  an  annalistic  account  of  the  invasion, 
obviously  of  the  same  character  as  verses  9- 11  and  many  other 
notices  which  we  have  assigned  to  the  roj^al  annals.  It  has  long 
been  recognized  that  verses  T4-16,  which  are  not  found  in 
Isa.  xxxvi,  are  distinct  in  origin  from  the  rest  of  the  section  ;  but 
it  is  impossible  to  separate  verse  13  from  verses  14-16;  and  the 

c  c 


386  II    KINGS  18.  14.     KJ 

Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria  come  up  against  all  the 
fenced  cities  of  Judah,  and  took  them.     And  Hezekiah 

omission  of  the  latter  by  the  editor  of  Isaiah  is  simply  a  proof 
that  he  borrowed  from  the  Book  of  Kings,  and  left  out  an  incident 
which  had  no  immediate  bearing  on  the  life  of  the  prophet.  An 
external  mark  of  the  diversity  of  sources  is  found  in  the  spelling 
of  the  name  Hezekiah  (in  13-16,  Hizkiyydh  :  in  17  ff,  Hizkiyyahu). 

(B)  The  second  narrative  begins  at  xviii.  17  and  ends  either 
with  xix.  8  or  xix.  9^  It  describes  with  great  fullness  an  attempt 
of  Sennacherib  to  obtain  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem  by  threats 
and  cajolery,  backed  by  some  display  of  force.  The  summons 
was  refused  on  the  advice  of  Isaiah,  who  predicted  that  Senna- 
cherib would  hear  a  rumour  that  would  cause  him  to  return  to 
his  own  land.  The  question  whether  this  '  rumour '  refers  to  the 
advanceof  Tirhakah,or  to  something  else  not  mentioned, determines 
whether  xix.  9*  belongs  to  this  narrative  or  the  following.  On 
either  view,  the  conclusion  of  the  one  and  the  beginning  of  the 
other  will  have  been  removed  in  the  process  of  amalgamation. 

<C)  In  the  third  narrative,  xix.  9  (or  9^)-35,  we  read  of  a 
threatening  letter  sent  to  Hezekiah  by  Sennacherib  with  the 
same  object  of  inducing  him  to  surrender.  Again  Isaiah  encour- 
ages him  to  resistance  by  an  announcement  that  the  king  of  Assyria 
would  not  invest  the  city,  but  would  return  '  by  the  way  that  he 
came.'  Then  follows  (verses  36,  37)  the  account  of  the  outbreak  of 
pestilence  in  the  Assyrian  camp,  the  retreat  of  Sennacherib,  and 
his  subsequent  assassination  at  Nineveh  (681  B.C.).  These  verses 
may  be  the  conclusion  of  (B). 

In  order  to  assign  their  proper  historical  place  and  value  to 
these  three  narratives,  it  would  be  necessary  to  compare  them 
closely  with  the  Assyrian  accounts  of  the  campaign,  which  may  be 
summarized  as  follows  (see  COT^  p.  286 ff.,  KIB^  ii.  p.  95 ff.,  and 
Burney,  p.  377  ff.).  In  his  third  campaign  (701  b.  c.)  Sennacherib 
marched  against  the  Western  Syrian  states,  which  had  been  in 
rebellion  since  the  death  of  Sargon  (705).  After  subduing  Phoenicia, 
he  proceeded  southward  to  the  Philistine  country,  where  he 
encountered  a  stubborn  but  ineffectual  resistance.  After  most 
of  their  strongholds  had  been  reduced,  he  met  and  defeated  at 
Eltekeh  {Altaku)  a  large  army  which  the  '  kings  of  Egypt  and  the 
king  of  Meluhha'  had  brought  to  the  assistance  of  their  allies.  The 
remaining  cities  were  then  captured,  the  last  to  fall  being  Ekron  ; 
and  Sennacherib  was  now  free  to  turn  his  attention  to  Hezekiah 
of  Judah,  the  leading  member  of  the  confederacy.  Forty-six  of 
his  fortresses  were  taken,  Jerusalem  was  blockaded  (though  not 
regularly  besieged),  the  devastated  territory  was  apportioned  to 
various  Pliilistine  vassals  ;  when  at  last  Hezekiah,  'overwhelmed 


II    KINGS   18.  14.     KJ  387 

king  of  Judah  sent  to  the  king  of  Assyria  to  Lachish, 
saying,  I  have  offended ;   return  from  me :   that  which 

by  fear,'  made  his  submission,  and  paid  as  tribute  30  talents  in 
gold  and  800  in  silver,  which  Sennacherib  caused  to  be  sent  after 
him  to  Nineveh.  The  circumstances  which  led  to  his  return  to 
Nineveh  are  not  stated. 

1.  Now,  the  first  thing  that  strikes  us  here  is  the  close  corre- 
spondence between  the  latter  part  of  the  Assyrian  record  and  the 
account  of  (A),  There  is  no  item  of  difference  between  them  for 
which  it  would  not  be  easy  to  suggest  an  explanation.  Even  if 
we  suppose  the  former  to  mean  that  Hezekiah  sent  his  tribute 
direct  to  Nineveh  (which  is  not  at  all  a  necessary  conclusion), 
there  would  still  be  no  discrepancy ;  for  (A)  simply  states  that 
Hezekiah  made  the  offer  of  submission  while  Sennacherib  was  in 
Lachish,  but  says  nothing  about  the  time  when  the  tribute  was 
actually  paid.  It  is  important  to  observe  that  if  we  assume  the 
order  of  Sennacherib's  account  to  be  in  the  main  chronological, 
Hezekiah 's  submission  was  subsequent  to  the  battle  of  Eltekeh, 
when  all  hope  of  succour  from  Egypt  was  taken  away. 

2.  The  narrative  of  (B),  on  the  other  hand,  presents  no  single 
point  of  contact  with  the  cuneiform  record.  It  is  tempting  at 
first  sight  to  suppose  that  the  expedition  under  the  Rabshakeh 
is  identical  with  the  blockading  corps  referred  to  by  Sennacherib, 
and  therefore  preceded  the  submission  of  Hezekiah.  This,  how- 
ever, is  inconsistent  with  the  sense  of  the  biblical  narrative, 
which  plainly  implies  that  Hezekiah  never  yielded  to  this  demand 
for  the  surrender  of  his  capital.  Again,  it  has  been  thought  that 
the  approach  of  Tirhakah  (xix.  9)  corresponds  to  the  advance  of 
the  Egyptian  army  that  was  defeated  at  Eltekeh  ;  but  the  sugges- 
tion only  adds  to  the  difficulty  of  the  problem,  and  is  itself 
irreconcileable  with  the  language  of  Sennacherib  ^  We  seem, 
therefore,  shut  up  to  the  conclusion  that  (B)  describes  an  incident 
regarding  which  the  Assyrian  annals  are  absolutely  silent,  and 
belonging  to  a  subsequent  stage  of  the  campaign.  The  demand 
for  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem  which  Hezekiah  successfully 
resisted  must  be  explained  as  an  afterthought  on  the  part  of 
Sennacherib,  the  motive  for  which  would  be  found  in  the  rumoured 
advance  of  Tirhakah,  if  xix.  9*  belongs  to  this  document  (see 
below). 

*  It  rested  on  the  identification  »^no\v  generally  abandoned  by 
Assyriolog-ists)  of  Meluhha  (really  Western  Arabia)  with  Ethiopia. 
Sennacherib's  account  distinctly  subordinates  the  king  of  Meluhha  to 
the  kings  of  Egypt,  which  would  be  impossible  if  he  meant  Tirhakah, 
the  supposed  over-lord  of  Egypt. 

CO  2 


388  II    KINGS  18.  15,16.     KJ 

thou  puttest  on  me  will  I  bear.     And  the  king  of  Assyria 
appointed  unto  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  three  hundred 

15  talents  of  silver  and  thirty  talents  of  gold.    And  Hezekiah 
gave  him  all  the  silver  that  was  found  in  the  house  of 

16  the  Lord,  and  in  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house.     At 

3.  With  regard  to  (C),  there  are  two  questions  :  {a)  Did  the 
original  narrative  belong  to  the  campaign  of  701  at  all,  or  to  some 
later  expedition  of  Sennacherib,  in  which  Jerusalem  was  again 
threatened  ?  The  latter  opinion  is  ably  maintained  by  Winckler 
(and  accepted  by  Benzinger),  but  the  evidence  appears  insufficient 
to  justify  so  radical  a  departure  from  what  was  admittedly  the 
Hebrew  tradition  '.  {b)  Assuming  that  (B)  and  (C^  both  refer  to  the 
year  701,  do  they  describe  two  successive  incidents  of  that  cam- 
paign, or  are  they  parallel  accounts  following  different  traditions 
of  the  same  event?  The  second  alternative  commends  itself  to 
most  recent  writers  (since  Stadc,  iSSd^i,  and  is  here  adopted. 

xviii.   13-16.      The  Annalistic  Account, 

13.  in  the  fourteeuth  year  of  kin^  Hezekiah  :  implying  that 
his  accession  was  in  the  year  714.  The  statement  has  even  loss 
claim  to  be  traditional  than  verse  9  f ,  for  it  is  probably  a  calcula- 
tion based  on  xx.  6,  and  on  the  assumption  that  the  sickness 
of  Hezekiah  happened  in  the  same  year  as  the  Assyrian  in- 
vasion. 

14.  to  Lachish  :  the  most  important  Judaean  fortress  in  the 
Shephelah  ;  see  on  xiv,  xg.  The  siege  of  Lachish  is  depicted  on 
a  bas-relief  of  Sennacherib  {COT,  p.  287^. 

I  have  offended:  ///.  '  I  have  sinned.'  Sennacherib  uses  the 
same  word  of  the  disaffection  of  the  Ekronites  at  this  time. 

that  which  thou  puttest  on  me :  cf  again  Sennacherib  : 
'  To  the  former  tribute  ...  I  added  the  tribute  befitting  my  lord- 
ship, and  laid  it  upon  hini^ 

^  Winckler's  chief  arguments  against  assigning  C  to  701  are: 
(i)  The  retreat  of  Sennacherib  is  ascribed  here  to  a  pestilence,  whereas 
in  B  it  is  ascribed  to  a  '  rumour  '  ;  Winckler  explains  this  as  the  rumour 
of  a  revolt  in  Babylon  which  engrossed  Sennacherib's  attention  in  the 
following  year.  (2)  The  narrative  gives  the  impression  that  the 
death  of  Sennacherib  occurred  shortly  after  his  return  to  Nineveh, 
whereas  it  did  not  take  place  till  681.  (This  argument  of  course 
falls  to  the  ground  if  xix.  36 f.  are  assigned  to  B.)  (3)  Tirhakah  did 
not  become  king  of  Kgypt  till  691.  (The  evidence  for  this  assertion 
seems  incomplete.)  Winckler  accordingly  connects  xix.  9*  with  C, 
and  brings  the  events  down  to  a  time  between  691  and  681. 


II    KINGS  18.  17-19.     KJI  389 

that  time  did  Hezekiah  cut  off  the  gold  frotn  the  doors 
of  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  pillars  which 
Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  had  overlaid,  and  gave  it  to  the 
king  of  Assyria.  [I]  And  the  king  of  Assyria  sent  Tartan  17 
and  Rabsaris  and  Rabshakeh  from  Lachish  to  king 
Hezekiah  with  a  great  army  unto  Jerusalem.  And  they 
went  up  and  came  to  Jerusalem.  And  when  they  were 
come  up,  they  came  and  stood  by  the  conduit  of  the 
upper  pool,  which  is  in  the  high  way  of  the  fuller's  field. 
And  when  they  had  called  to  the  king,  there  came  out  18 
to  them  Eliakim  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  which  was  over  the 
household,  and  Shebnah  the  scribe,  and  Joah  the  son  of 
Asaph  the  recorder.     And  Rabshakeh  said  unto  them,  19 

16.  which  Hezekiah  .  .  .  overlaid.    Should  it  be  'Solomon'? 

xviii.  17 — xix.  9*.  First  Prophetic  Narrative.  We  take  it  to 
have  been  after  the  submission  of  Hezekiah,  and  in  consequence 
of  another  threatened  attack  from  Egypt,  that  Sennacherib  sent 
a  detachment  of  his  army  to  Jerusalem  under  the  Rabshakeh  and 
other  officers.  The  object  of  the  demonstration  was  to  obtain 
possession  of  the  city,  partly  by  a  display  of  force,  and  partly  by 
incitements  to  the  populace  to  rebel  against  their  king.  Hezekiah, 
in  deep  distress,  sends  a  deputation  to  the  prophet  Isaiah,  who 
gives  a  reassuring  answer,  predicting  a  speedy  withdrawal  of  the 
invaders,  and  the  death  of  the  king  of  Assyria.  The  Rabshakeh 
returns  to  his  master  at  Libnah  ;  and  soon  after  Sennacherib  hears 
a  rumour  of  the  approach  of  Tirhakah  the  Ethiopian.  Here  the 
first  narrative  is  broken  off. 

\*7.  Of  the  three  Assyrian  officers  mentioned  here,  Isa.  xxxvi.  a 
names  only  the  Rabshakeh  (so  xix.  8).  This  title  is  said  to  mean 
'  Chief  of  the  Officers.'  The  Tartan  was  the  commander-in-chief 
(Isa.  XX.  i).  Rabsaris  ought  to  mean'  Chief  of  the  Eunuchs,'  but 
the  word  has  not  been  found  in  Assyrian. 

the  condtiit  .  .  .  &c.  :  cf.  Isa.  vii.  3.  The  spot  cannot  be 
certainly  located,  but  must  have  been  within  earshot  of  the  wall. 
For  the  various  conjectures,  see  the  Commentaries  on  Isaiah. 

18.  On  Eliakini  and  Shebnah,  cf.  Isa.  xxii.  15  ff.  On  the 
three  offices,  see  i  Kings  iv.  i  fT. 

19.  The  speech  of  the  Rabshakeh  discusses  two  possible  grounds 
of  confidence  which  might  be  in  the  minds  of  Hezekiah  and  his 


390  II    KINGS  18.  20-24.     I 

Say  ye  now  to  Hezekiah,  Thus  saith  the  great  king,  the 
king  of  Assyria,  What  confidence  is  this  wherein  thou 

20  trustest  ?  Thou  sayest,  but  they  are  but  vain  words, 
There  is  counsel  and  strength  for  the  war.  Now  on  whom 
dost   thou   trust,   that  thou  hast  rebelled  against  me? 

21  Now,  behold,  thou  trustest  upon  the  staff  of  this  bruised 
reed,  even  upon  Egypt ;  whereon  if  a  man  lean,  it  will  go 
into  his  hand,  and  pierce  it :  so  is  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt 

22  unto  all  that  trust  on  him.  But  if  ye  say  unto  me.  We 
trust  in  the  Lord  our  God :  is  not  that  he,  whose  high 
places  and  whose  altars  Hezekiah  hath  taken  away,  and 
hath  said  to  Judah  and  to  Jerusalem,  Ye  shall  worship 

23  before  this  altar  in  Jerusalem  ?  Now  therefore,  I  pray 
thee,  give  pledges  to  my  master  the  king  of  Assyria,  and 
I  will  give  thee  two  thousand  horses,  if  thou  be  able  on 

24  thy  part  to  set  riders  upon  them.  How  then  canst  thou 
turn  away  the  face  of  one  captain  of  the  least  of  my 


advisers  :  expectation  of  help  from  Egypt,  and  faith  in  the  power 
of  Yahweh. 

20.  Render,  'Thou  thinkest  that  a  mere  word  of  the  lips  is 
counsel  and  strength  for  war ! ' — referring  (probably)  to  the  empty 
promises  of  the  Egyptians. 

21.  For  the  idea,  cf.  Isa.  xxx.  1-5  ;  for  the  expression,  Ezek. 
xxix.  6,  7. 

22.  Cf.  verse  4.  The  argument  is  a  somewhat  singular  one  in 
the  mouth  of  a  heathen  soldier,  and  if  really  used  by  him  would 
show  how  closely  the  Assyrians  watched  the  internal  affairs  of  the 
nations  within  their  sphere  of  influence.  The  speech,  however, 
is  a  free  composition  of  the  narrator  ;  and  only  proves  that  in  his 
view  the  reformation  of  Hezekiah  was  accomplished  before  701. 
At  the  same  time,  the  verse  certainly  affords  independent  evidence 
that  such  a  reformation  actually  took  place. 

23.  give  pledg'es  to:  better,  as  marg.,  'make  a  wager  with.' 
Want  of  cavalry  was  the  weak  point  in  the  armament  of  Judah  at 
this  time  (verse  24  ;   Isa.  xxx.  16,  xxxi.  i,  3). 

24.  The  word  for  captain  (strictly  'governor'  of  a  province)  is 
here  both  unsuitable  and  grammatically  harsh  :  it  should  probably 
be  deleted  as  a  gloss. 


II    KINGS  18.  25-31.     I  391 

master's  servants,  and  put  thy  trust  on  Egypt  for  chariots 
and  for  horsemen?    Am  I  now  come  up  without  the  25 
Lord  against  this  place  to  destroy  it?     The  Lord  said 
unto  me,  Go  up  against  this  land,  and  destroy  it.     Then  26 
said  Eliakim  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  and  Shebnah,  and  Joah, 
unto  Rabshakeh,  Speak,  I  pray  thee,  to  thy  servants  in  the 
Syrian  language ;  for  we  understand  it :   and  speak  not 
with  us  in  the  Jews'  language,  in  the  ears  of  the  people 
that  are  on  the  wall.     But  Rabshakeh  said  unto  them,  27 
Hath  my  master  sent  me  to  thy  master,  and  to  thee,  to 
speak  these  words  ?  hath  he  not  sent  me  to  the  men  which 
sit  on  the  wall,  to  eat  their  own  dung,  and  to  drink  their 
own  water  with  you  ?    Then  Rabshakeh  stood,  and  cried  28 
with  a  loud  voice  in  the  Jews'  language,  and  spake,  saying. 
Hear  ye  the  word  of  the  great  king,  the  king  of  Assyria. 
Thus  saith  the  king,  Let  not  Hezekiah  deceive  you ;  for  29 
he  shall  not  be  able  to  deliver  you  out  of  his  hand : 
neither  let  Hezekiah  make  you  trust  in  the  Lord,  saying,  30 
The  Lord  will  surely  deliver  us,  and  this  city  shall  not 
be  given  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria.     Hearken  31 

and  put  thy  trust :  better  perhaps,  *  seeing  thou  hast  put  thy 
trust.'     But  the  sequence  is  difficult. 

25.  The  Assyrian  represents  himself  as  commissioned  by 
Yahweh  to  avenge  the  destruction  of  his  sanctuaries.  A  precisely 
similar  sentiment  was  expressed  by  Cyrus  in  connexion  with  his 
conquest  of  Babylon.  That  the  words  embody  no  serious  convic- 
tion is  clear  from  verse  35. 

26.  Syrian,  or  '  Aramaic,'  was  the  language  of  commerce  and 
diplomacy  in  Western  Asia,  though  not  yet  understood  by  the 
common  people.  Hebrew  is  called  Jewish  in  only  one  other 
(post-Exilic)  passage,  Neh.  xiii.  24. 

27.  to  eat  .  .  .  The  words,  of  course,  express  not  the  desire  or 
intention  of  the  king  of  Assyria  (observe  the  antithesis  in  verse 
31),  but  the  inevitable  result  of  fidelity  to  Hezekiah's  ruinous 
policy. 

29.  out  of  his  hand  must  either  be  read  *  out  of  my  hand  '  (so 
LXX  (L);  &c.),  or  omitted  entirely,  as  in  Isa.  xxxvi.  14. 


392  II    KINGS  18.  32-37.     I 

not  to  Hezekiah :  for  thus  saith  the  king  of  Assyria, 
Make  your  peace  with  me,  and  come  out  to  me ;  and  eat 
ye  every  one  of  his  vine,  and  every  one  of  his  fig  tree, 
and  drink  ye  every  one  the  waters  of  his  own  cistern; 

32  until  I  come  and  take  you  away  to  a  land  like  your  own 
land,  a  land  of  corn  and  wine,  a  land  of  bread  and  vine- 
yards, a  land  of  oil  olive  and  of  honey,  that  ye  may  live, 
and  not  die :  and  hearken  not  unto  Hezekiah,  when  he 

33  persuadeth  you,  saying.  The  Lord  will  deliver  us.  Hath 
any  of  the  gods  of  the  nations  ever  delivered  his  land 

3  J  out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria  ?  Where  are  the 
gods  of  Hamath,  and  of  Arpad  ?  where  arc  the  gods  of 
Sepharvaim,  of  Hena,  and  Ivvah?    have  they  delivered 

35  Samaria  out  of  my  hand  ?  AVho  are  they  among  all  the 
gods  of  the  countries,  that  have  delivered  their  country 
out  of  my  hand,  that  the  Lord  should  deliver  Jerusalem 

36  out  of  my  hand  ?  But  the  people  held  their  peace,  and 
answered  him  not  a  word :  for  the  king's  commandment 

37  was,  saying,  Answer  him  not.  Then  came  Eliakim  the 
son  of  Hilkiah,   which    was   over   the   household,   and 

31.  Make  your  peace  with  me  :  lit.  as  marg.  'Make  with  me 
a  blessing.'  The  phrase  is  not  found  elsewhere,  and  is  not  easy 
to  explain. 

come  out  to  me :  the  regular  expression  for  surrendering 
a  city  (i  Sara,  xi,  3  ;  Jer.  xxi.  9,  &c  ). 

and  eat  ye  :  '  that  ye  may  eat,'  by  resuming  the  cultivation  of 
your  fields  and  vineyards. 

32.  The  Rabshakeh  is  very  honest:  he  does  not  conceal  from 
them  that  their  ultimate  fate  will  be  deportation. 

34.  On  Hamath,  Sepharvaim,  and  Iwah,  see  xvii.  24. 
Sepharvaim  must  here  be  a  Syrian  city,  and  also  Hena,  of  which 
nothing  is  known. 

Arpad  is  now  Tell  ''Erfdd,  near  Aleppo.  The  conquests  must 
have  been  all  recent,  since  the  time  of  Tiglath-pileser  :  Hamath 
fell  in  720,  Arpad  about  740. 

have  they  delivered  Samaria.  It  is  quite  necessary  here  to 
restore  a  clause  preserved  in  LXX  (L\  and  read  :  *  Where  are 
the  gods  of  the  land  of  Samaria  ?   Have  they  delivered  ? '  &c. 


II    KINGS  19.  1-6.     I  393 

Shebna  the  scribe,  and  Joah  the  son  of  Asaph  the  re- 
corder, to  Hezekiah  with  their  clothes  rent,  and  told  him 
the  words  of  Rabshakeh. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  when  king  Hezekiah  heard  it,  19 
that   he    rent    his   clothes,   and   covered    himself  with 
sackcloth,  and  went  into  the  house  of  the  Lord.     And    2 
he  sent   Eliakim,   which  was  over  the  household,   and 
Shebna  the  scribe,  and  the  elders  of  the  priests,  covered 
with  sackcloth,  unto  Isaiah  the  prophet  the  son  of  Amoz. 
x\nd  they  said  unto  him.  Thus  saith  Hezekiah,  This  day    3 
is  a  day  of  trouble,  and  of  rebuke,  and  of  contumely  :  for 
the  children  are  come  to  the  birth,  and  there  is   not 
strength  to  bring  forth.     It  may  be  the  Lord  thy  God    4 
will  hear  all  the  words  of  Rabshakeh,  whom  the  king  of 
Assyria  his  master  hath  sent  to  reproach  the  living  God, 
and  will  rebuke  the  words  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath 
heard  :  wherefore  lift  up  thy  prayer  for  the  remnant  that 
is  left.    So  the  servants  of  king  Hezekiah  came  to  Isaiah.    5 
And  Isaiah  said  unto  them,  Thus  shall  ye  say  to  your    6 
master.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Be  not  afraid  of  the  words 

xix.  1.  went  into  the  house  of  the  I*ORD.  See  verse  14.  Cf. 
I  Kings  viii.  33,  34. 

2.  Tinto  Isaiah.  Isaiah  had  for  years  been  straining  all  his 
influence  to  avert  the  suicidal  policy  of  rebellion  against  Assyria ; 
but  his  counsels  had  been  overborne  by  the  war-party  in  the  court. 
The  hour  of  his  vindication  has  come,  when  a  deputation,  including 
one  of  his  bitterest  opponents  (Shebna:  Isa.  xxii.  1511.),  waits 
upon  him  from  the  king,  beseeching  his  intercession  and  advice. 

3.  of  trouble  .  .  .  contumely :  better,  '  of  distress  and  punish- 
ment and  rejection.' 

the  children  are  come :  obviously  a  proverbial  figure  for 
a  dangerous  crisis  which  there  is  no  strength  to  meet :  cf.  Hos. 
xiii.  13  ;  Isa,  Ixvi.  9. 

4.  the  IiOBD  thy  God.  The  prophet  stands  nearer  to  God 
than  other  men  ;  hence  his  intercession  may  be  efficacious  when 
the  prayers  of  worldly  men  are  of  no  avail. 

6.  Isaiah  has  his  answer  ready,  having  already  received  a 
revelation  from  Yahwch. 


394  11    KINGS  19.  7-9.    IV 

that  thou  hast  heard,  wherewith  the  servants  of  the  king 

7  of  Assyria  have  blasphemed  me.  Behold,  I  will  put 
a  spirit  in  him,  and  he  shall  hear  a  rumour,  and  shall 
return  to  his  own  land ;  and  I  will  cause  him  to  fall  by 
the  sword  in  his  own  land. 

8  So  Rabshakeh  returned,  and  found  the  king  of  Assyria 
warring  against  Libnah :  for  he  had  heard  that  he  was 

9  departed  from  Lachish.  And  when  he  heard  say  of 
Tirhakah  king  of  Ethiopia,  Behold,  he  is  come  out  to 
fight  against  thee  :   pj  he  sent  messengers  again  unto 

the  servants:  lit. '  the  young  men/  as  i  Kings  xx.  14. 

7.  put  a  spirit  in  him  :  a  spirit  of  craven  fear,  depriving  him 
of  his  natural  resolution  and  courage.  How^  the  spirit  will  work 
is  explained  by  what  follows,  he  shall  hear  a  rumour.  The 
rumour  is  no  doubt  that  of  the  approach  of  Tirhakah  (verse  9). 
It  is  certainly  remarkable  that  there  is  no  allusion  to  the  pestilence 
by  which  Sennacherib's  enterprise  was  shattered. 

8.  On  Iiibnah,  see  viii.  22.  The  neighbouring  Lachish  had 
apparently  capitulated  in  the  interval. 

9*.  Tirhakah  (Assyrian,  Tarkti)  is  mentioned  only  here  (and  Isa. 
xxxvii.  9)  in  the  O.  T.  The  difficulty  as  to  the  year  of  his  acces- 
sion (see  p.  388  above)  still  awaits  final  solution  ;  but  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  he  is  not  here  called  '  king  of  Egypt,'  and  the  event 
may  very  well  have  preceded  the  establishment  of  his  definite 
suzerainty  in  the  Nile  valley.  It  may  be  held,  at  all  events 
provisionally,  that  he  was  a  power  in  the  background  acting 
in  concert  with  the  Egyptian  princes ;  and  that  after  the  defeat 
of  his  allies  at  Eltekeh  he  prepared  himself  for  a  struggle  with 
the  Assyrian. 

xix.  9''-35.  Second  Prophetic  Narrative.  This  account  differs 
from  the  first  chiefly  in  these  particulars:  (i^^  Sennacherib's 
demand  is  conveyed  by  a  letter,  and  is  not  backed  by  military 
force.  (2)  Isaiah's  interposition  is  spontaneous.  (3)  His  message 
to  the  king  is  different,  both  in  form  and  substance.  It  consists, 
indeed,  of  two  distinct  oracles ;  one  (verses  21-28)  being  a 
metrical  composition  in  what  is  commonly  called  the  elegiac 
measure  ;  and  the  other  (verses  32-34),  a  short  prophetic  utter- 
ance, in  ordinary  prose  style.  The  intervening  verses  (29-31), 
though  also  in  prose,  are  an  appendix  to  the  poetical  passage. 
Since  verses  32-34  contain  the  direct  answer  to  Hezekiah's 
prayer,  and  are  the  natural  continuation  of  verse  20,  it  is  almost 


II    KINGS  19.  10-14.     I'  395 

Hezekiah,  saying,  Thus  shall  ye  speak  to  Hezekiah  king  10 
of  Judah,  saying,  Let  not  thy  God  in  whom  thou  trustest 
deceive  thee,  saying,  Jerusalem  shall  not  be  given  into 
the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria.     Behold,   thou   hast  u 
heard  what  the  kings  of  Assyria  have  done  to  all  lands, 
by  destroying  them  utterly  :  and  shalt  thou  be  delivered  ? 
Have  the  gods  of  the  nations  dehvered  them,  which  my  12 
fathers  have  destroyed,  Gozan,  and  Haran,  and  Rezeph, 
and  the  children  of  Eden  which  were  in  Telassar  ?    Where  13 
is  the  king  of  Hamath,  and  the  king  of  Arpad,  and  the 
king  of  the  city  of  Sepharvaim,  of  Hena,  and  Ivvah  ? 
And  Hezekiah  received  the  letter  from  the  hand  of  the  14 
messengers,  and  read  it :    and  Hezekiah  went  up  unto 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  spread  it  before  the  Lord. 


certain  that  verses  21-31  are  an  insertion  from  an  unknown  inde- 
pendent source. 

9^.  he  sent  messengers  again.  The  word  represented  by 
'  again  '  does  not  appear  in  the  corresponding  verse  in  Isaiah, 
where  it  is  replaced  by  '  And  he  heard.'  Both  words  are  doubt- 
less editorial  insertions  to  connect  this  narrative  with  the  pre- 
ceding, the  original  text  having  been  simply  'And  he  sent 
messengers.'  The  narrative  on  which  we  are  entering  has  been, 
of  course,  abridged  by  omission  of  the  introduction. 

10.  Thus  shall  ye  speak  .  .  .  saying.  The  clause  is  omitted 
by  the  LXX,  and  the  direction  appears  superfluous:  though  it  is 
not  impossible  that  the  letter  (verse  14)  was  accompanied  by  an 
oral  message. 

12,  13.  Most  of  the  names  here  mentioned  have  already 
occurred  :  see  xvii.  6,  24,  xviii.  33  f.  Karau  (Gen.  xi.  31,  Sec.) 
was  the  great  commercial  emporium  of  Northern  Mesopotamia  ;  it 
was  situated  on  the  Balih,  a  northern  tributary  of  the  Euphrates 
{see  on  xvii.  6).  Rezeph  (Assyrian,  Rassappa,  now  Rusdfe)  lies 
south  of  the  Euphrates  on  the  road  from  Haran  to  Palmyra.  Eden 
is  the  small  kingdom  called  Bit  'Adi'ni,  on  the  upper  Euphrates  ; 
and  Telassar,  apparently  one  of  its  cities,  though  not  certainly 
identified.  The  whole  of  these  provinces  had  long  been  incor- 
porated in  the  Assyrian  empire. 

14.  spread  it  before  the  ZiORD  :  that  Yahweh  might  see,  and 
take  notice  of  its  blasphemous  arrogance. 


396  II    KINGS  10.  15-20.     P 

15  And  Hezekiah  prayed  before  the  Lord,  and  said,  O 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  that  sittest  upon  the  cherubim, 
thou  art  the  God,  even  thou  alone,  of  all  the  kingdoms 

16  of  the  earth ;  thou  hast  made  heaven  and  earth.  Incline 
thine  ear,  O  Lord,  and  hear ;  open  thine  eyes,  O  Lord, 
and  see  :  and  hear  the  words  of  Sennacherib,  wherewith 

•  7  he  hath  sent  him  to  reproach  the  living  God.  Of  a  truth, 
Lord,  the  kings  of  Assyria  have  laid  waste  the  nations 

18  and  their  lands,  and  have  cast  their  gods  into  the  fire : 
for  they  were  no  gods,  but  the  work  of  men's  hands, 
wood  and  stone  ;   therefore  they  have  destroyed  them. 

19  Now  therefore,  O  Lord  our  God,  save  thou  us,  I  beseech 
thee,  out  of  his  hand,  that  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth 
may  know  that  thou  art  the  Lord  God,  even  thou  only. 

20  Then  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amoz  sent  to  Hezekiah,  saying, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  Whereas  thou 
hast  prayed  to  me  against  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria, 


15.  sittest  (enthroned)  upon  (or,  'over')  the  cherntoim. 
Whatever  the  original  idea  of  the  cherubim  may  have  been  (see 
p.  113%  the  reference  here  is  merely  to  the  two  figures  in  the  inner 
shrine  of  the  temple.  Cf.  i  Sam.  iv.  4;  2  Sam.  vi.  2;  Ps.  Ixxx.  2, 
xcix.  I. 

16.  hath  sent  him.  Omit  'him 'with  Isa.  xxxvii.  17.  The 
clause  seems  to  be  borrowed  from  verse  4. 

17.  have  laid  waste.  It  is  better  to  read  *  have  devoted  them,' 
as  in  verse  11  (marg.).  The  two  Hebrew  verbs  differ  but  in 
a  single  letter,  and  the  one  here  found  is  hardly  ever  used  of 
nations. 

18.  wood  and  stone :  cf.  Deut.  iv.  28,  xxviii.  36,  64,  xxix. 
17,  &c. 

19.  Let  Yahweh  now  show,  in  contrast  with  the  deities  of  the 
heathen,  that  he  alone  possesses  true  Godhead  I  The  last  clause 
is  better  rendered  :  '  that  thou,  Yahweh,  art  God  alone.' 

20.  The  answer  to  the  pra3'er  comes  in  the  form  of  a  message 
from  Isaiah.  The  verse  was  originally  the  protasis  to  verse  3a, 
though  the  construction  is  now  obscured  by  the  addition  of  the 
words  I  have  heard  thee,  which  are  not  in  Isaiah,  and  should  be 
omitted. 


II    KINGS  19.  21-25.     I"?  397 

I  have  heard  thee.     [?]  This  is  the  word  that  the  Lord  21 
hath  spoken  concerning  him :   The  virgin  daughter  of 
Zion  hath  despised  thee  and  laughed  thee  to  scorn  ;  the 
daughter  of  Jerusalem  hath  shaken  her  head  at  thee. 
Whom    hast   thou   reproached    and   blasphemed?    and  22 
against  whom  hast  thou  exalted  thy  voice  and  lifted  up 
thine  eyes  on  high  ?  even  against  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. 
By  thy  messengers  thou  hast  reproached  the  Lord,  and  23 
hast  said,  With  the  multitude  of  my  chariots  am  I  come 
up  to  the  height  of  the  mountains,  to  the  innermost  parts 
of  Lebanon ;  and  I  will  cut  down  the  tall  cedars  thereof, 
and  the  choice  fir  trees  thereof:  and  I  will  enter  into  his 
farthest   lodging   place,   the  forest  of  his  fruitful  field. 
I  have  digged  and  drunk  strange  waters,  and  with  the  24 
sole  of  my  feet  will  I  dry  up  all  the  rivers  of  Egypt. 
Hast  thou  not  heard  how  I  have  done  it  long  ago,  and  25 
formed  it  of  ancient  times?  now  have  I  brought  it  to 
pass,  that  thou  shouldest  be  to  lay  waste  fenced  cities 

21^'  commences  the  poetic  oracle,  which  is  a  taunt-song  over 
the  ignominious  defeat  of  the  Assyrian.  The  so-called  elegiac 
rhythm,  which  can  be  traced  to  the  end  of  verse  28,  consists  in 
the  alternation  of  longer  and  shorter  lines,  generally  in  the 
proportion  of  three  pulses  to  two,  thus  : 

*  She  m(3cks  thee,  she  puts  thee  to  sc6rn  —  the  virgin  of  Zion  ; 
Behind  thee  shaking  her  head  —Jerusalem's  daughter.* 

shaken  her  head:  a  gesture  of  derision  ;  Ps.  xxii.  7,  cix.  25  ; 
Jer.  xviii.  16 ;  Lam.  ii.  15,  &c. 

23.  24.  am  I  come  up  .  .  .  Ziebauon.  It  was  a  favourite  boast 
of  Assyrian  monarchs  that  they  had  penetrated  '  trackless  paths 
and  difficult  mountains  on  wheels  of  iron  and  bronze '  (see 
Cheyne,  Proph.  of  Isaiah,  i.  p.  219).  The  verbs  in  the  two 
verses  should  be  pointed  and  translated  as  perfects. 

24.  strangre  (or,  'foreign')  waters:  of.  Prov.  v.  15,  ix.  17. 
rivers    of  Egypt    is    undoubtedly   more   correct    than   the 

marginal  *  defence/  though  in  Sennacherib's  time  no  Assyrian 
army  had  set  foot  in  Egypt. 

25.  The  Divine  answer  to  the  impious  boast:  in  all  his  successes 
the  AssjTian  had  been  the  instrument  of  Yahweh's  eternal  purpose. 


398  II   KINGS  19.  26-29.    ? 

26  into  ruinous  heaps.  Therefore  their  inhabitants  were  of 
small  power,  they  were  dismayed  and  confounded ;  they 
were  as  the  grass  of  the  field,  and  as  the  green  herb,  as 
the  grass  on  the  housetops,  and  as  corn  blasted  before  it 

27  be  grown  up.  But  I  know  thy  sitting  down,  and  thy 
going  out,  and  thy  coming  in,  and  thy  raging  against  me. 

2S  Because  of  thy  raging  against  me,  and  for  that  thine 
arrogancy  is  come  up  into  mine  ears,  therefore  will  I  put 
my  hook  in  thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips,  and 
I  will  turn  thee  back  by  the  way  by  which  thou  earnest. 

29  And  this  shall  be  the  sign  unto  thee :  ye  shall  eat  this 
year  that  which  groweth  of  itself,  and  in  the  second  year 
that  which  springeth  of  the  same ;  and  in  the  third  year 
sow  ye,  and  reap,  and  plant  vineyards,  and  eat  the  fruit 


Cf.  Isa.  X.  6ff.,  xlv.  I  ff.  It  is  better  to  render:  'Hast  thou  not 
heard  ?  Long  ago  have  1  made  it ;  from  the  daj's  of  old  have 
I  formed  it,'  &c. 

26.  Render,  '  while  their  inhabitants,  being  of  small  power, 
were  terrified,'  &c. 

grrass  on  the  housetops.     See  Ps.  cxxix.  6-8. 

com  blasted  .  .  .  grown  up.  The  words  in  the  Hebrew 
give  no  sense  :  there  is  obviously  some  confusion  between  the 
end  of  this  verse  and  the  beginning  of  the  next.  The  best  reading 
is  perhaps  that  given  by  Kittel,  combining  a  conjecture  of  Thenius 
with  another  by  Wellhausen,  and  changing  the  first  word  in 
accordance  with  Isa.  xxxvii.  27.  Read  accordingly,  *  like  a  corn- 
field before  the  east  wind,'  continuing  in  verse 

27.  '  Before  me  is  thy  rising  up  and  thy  sitting  down  (cf. 
Ps.  cxxxix.  2),  and  thy  going  out  and  thy  coming  in  I  know.' 
The  remaining  words,  and  thy  ragriner  agrainst  me,  have  to  be 
struck  out,  for  metrical  reasons  (see  next  verse"). 

28.  my  hook  in  thy  nose :  cf.  Ezek.  xix.  4,  xxix.  4,  xxxviii.  4. 
the  way  by  which  thou  earnest.     See  verse  33. 

29.  The  sig'n  offered  to  Hezekiah  is  of  the  same  nature  as  that 
of  Exod.  iii.  12,  &:c.  ;  i.  e.  it  consists  of  a  natural  series  of  events 
which  when  thej'  happened  would  attest  that  the  circumstances 
had  been  accurately  foreseen  by  the  prophet.  It  refers  to  the 
suspension  of  regular  husbandry  till  the  third  year  from  the  lin.e 
of  prediction.     In  the  current  year  the  people  would  eat  sdphidh 


II    KINGS  19.  30-35.     ?!"  399 

thereof.     And  the  remnant  that  is  escaped  of  the  house  30 
of  Judah  shall  again  take  root  downward,  and  bear  fruit 
upward.     For  out  of  Jerusalem  shall  go  forth  a  remnant,  31 
and  out  of  mount  Zion  they  that  shall  escape  :  the  zeal 
of  the  Lord  shall  perform  this.     [F]  Therefore  thus  saith  32 
the  Lord  concerning  the  king  of  Assyria,  He  shall  not 
come  unto  this  city,  nor  shoot  an  arrow  there,  neither 
shall  he  come  before  it  with  shield,  nor  cast  a  mount 
against  it.     By  the  way  that  he  came,  by  the  same  shall  33 
he  return,  and  he  shall  not  come  unto  this  city,  saith  the 
Lord.     For  I  will  defend  this  city  to  save  it,  for  mine  34 
own  sake,  and  for  my  servant  David's  sake. 

And  it  came  to  pass  that  night,  that  the  angel  of  the  .^5 
Lord  went  forth,  and  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assyrians 


(Lev.  XXV.  5,  11),  the  p:rowth  from  shaken  ears  of  corn;  in  the 
following  year,  sd/iish  (in  Isaiah  shdhis,  the  word  does  not  occur 
elsewhere),  i,  e.  grain  that  shoots  up  of  itself;  only  in  the  third 
year  will  the  fields  be  sown  and  reaped  in  the  usual  way.  This 
implies  that  the  Assyrians  had  been  in  the  land  in  time  to  destroy 
one  harvest  (April,  May),  and  would  stay  long  enough  to  prevent 
the  ploughing  and  sowing  for  the  next.  The  proper  sowing  time 
was  from  October  to  November ;  but  Wetzstein  states  that  unless 
the  ground  be  repeatedl3'  broken  up  during  the  summer  the  next 
crop  will  not  mature.  If  therefore  the  occupation  lasted  well 
through  the  summer  of  701,  there  would  be  no  harvest  in  700 — 
the  year  of  the  sdkish.  The  year  of  the  sdphidh  is  that  in  which 
Isaiah  speaks — the  old  Hebrew  year  commencing  in  the  autumn. 

30,  31.  The  idea  of  the  remnant  is  a  characteristic  doctrine  of 
Isaiah. 

the  zeal  of  the  £OBD  :  cf.  Isa.  ix.  7. 

32.  Therefore,  resuming  the  '  whereas '  of  verse  20,  introduces 
the  original  oracle  of  Isaiah,  according  to  this  narrative. 

33.  Cf.  verse  28.  It  is  singular  that  none  of  these  predictions 
of  Isaiah  goes  beyond  the  withdrawal  of  Sennacherib  to  his 
own  land.  There  is  no  hint  of  the  appalling  disaster  recorded  in 
verse  35. 

35.  the  angrel  of  the  LOHD  is  associated  with  the  pestilence 
in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  15  f.  The  main  fact  is  confirmed  by  an  Egyptian 
legend   recorded   by    Herodotus   (ii.    141),    according  to    which 


400  II    KINGS    19.36-20.1.     im~ 

an  hundred  fourscore  and  five  thousand  :  and  when  men 
arose  early  in  the  morning,  behold,  they  were  all  dead 

36  corpses.     [I]  So  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria  departed, 

37  and  went  and  returned,  and  dwelt  at  Nineveh.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  as  he  was  worshipping  in  the  house  of 
Nisroch  his  god,  that  Adrammelech  and  Sharezer  smote 
him  with  the  sword :  and  they  escaped  into  the  land  of 
Ararat.     And  Esar-haddon  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

20      [F]  In  those  days  was  Hezekiah  sick  unto  death.    And 

Sennacherib's  invasion  of  Egypt  was  frustrated  by  field-mice 
(symbol  of  pestilence)  gnawing  the  bows  of  the  soldiers  and  the 
thongs  of  their  shields  during  the  night. 

xix.  36,  37  are  the  conclusion  of  the  first  narrative,  continuing 
verse  9*.  The  death  of  Sennacherib  took  place  in  681  :  a  notice 
of  the  assassination  is  found  in  the  Babylonian  chronicle  (KIB,  ii. 
p.  281  fT.).  An  Ass3^rian  god  ITisroch  is  not  known  :  the  name 
might  be  a  corruption  oi  Nusku,  a  solar  deit3\ 

Adrammelecli  is  named  as  the  parricide  by  profane  historians 
(though  the  inscriptions  mention  only  one  son  and  give  no  name); 
Sharezer  is  mentioned  only  here. 

the  land  of  Ararat  is  Armenia  (Assyrian,  Urartu). 

Esar-haddon  reigned  from  681-668. 

XX.  I -I  I.  ilezekiaK s  Sickness  and  Recovery  (Isa.  xxxviii.  1-8, 
21,  22).  The  narrative  certainly  belongs  to  one  of  the  Isaiah- 
biographies — most  probably  the  second.  In  verse  6"^  there  is  an 
allusion  to  the  Assyrian  peril,  which  would  indicate  that  the 
incident  took  place  during  the  invasion,  though  it  shows  at  the 
same  time  that  it  cannot  have  been  subsequent  to  the  deliverance 
of  xix,  35  ft.  The  verse,  however,  is  largely  a  reproduction  of 
xix.  34,  and  is  on  other  grounds  strongly  suspected  of  being  an 
interpolation.  Historical  probability  points  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  events  happened  long  before  701  :  see  further  on  verses  12-19. 
Comparing  the  text  with  Isa.  xxxviii,  we  discover  important 
differences,  which  cannot  be  wholly  explained  by  disturbance  due 
to  the  insertion  in  Isaiah  of  the  Psalm  of  Hezekiah.  They  rather 
indicate  that  the  latter  part  of  the  narrative  (referring  to  the 
sign)  has  undergone  considerable  modification  at  the  hands  of 
successive  editors. 

1.  In  those  days.  Many  commentators  are  of  opinion  that  in 
the  original  life  of  Isaiah  this  chapter  preceded  the  account  of  the 
invasion  ;    and   that   the   opening   phrase    refers   to   some  other 


II    KINGS  20.  2-6.     I-  401 

Isaiah  the  prophet  the  son  of  Amoz  came  to  him,  and 
said  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Set  thine  house  in 
order  ;  for  thou  shalt  die,  and  not  live.     Then  he  turned  2 
his  face  to  the  wall,  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord,  saying, 
Remember  now,  O  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  how  I  have  3 
walked  before  thee  in  truth  and  with  a  perfect  heart, 
and  have  done  that  which  is  good  in  thy  sight.     And 
Hezekiah  wept  sore.     And  it  came  to  pass,  afore  Isaiah  4 
was  gone  out  into  the  middle  part  of  the  city,  that  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him,  saying,  Turn  again,  and  5 
say  to  Hezekiah  the  prince  of  my  people,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  David  thy  father,  I  have  heard  thy 
prayer,  I  have  seen  thy  tears :  behold,  I  will  heal  thee : 
on  the  third  day  thou  shalt  go  up  unto  the  house  of  the 
Lord.     And  I  will  add  unto  thy  days  fifteen  years ;  and  6 
I  will  deliver  thee  and  this  city  out  of  the  hand  of  the 


incident  which  had  been  previously  related.  At  all  events,  the 
expression  cannot  be  taken  to  prove  that  the  sickness  of  Hezekiah 
followed  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib. 

Set  thine  house  in  order :  the  last  duty  of  a  dying  man 
(i  Kings  ii.  1-9  ;  2  Sam.  xvii.  23). 

2.  tnmed  his  face.     Cf.  i  Kings  xxi.  4. 

3.  with  a  perfect  heart  and  g'ood  in  thy  sight :  favourite 
expressions  of  the  compiler  of  Kings  (i  Kings  viii.  61,  xi.  4,.  38, 
XV.  3,  14,  Scc."^. 

4.  g-one  out  into.  .  . .  Read,  with  marg.,  '  gone  out  of  the  middle 
court.'  On  the  '  middle  court '  see  on  i  Kings  vii.  8.  The  verse 
is  greatly  abridged  in  Isa.  xxxviii.  4. 

5.  prince  of  my  people :  cf.  i  Sam.  ix.  16,  x.  i  ;   i  Kings  i.  35. 

6.  fifteen  years :  agreeing  with  xviii.  2  and  13.  It  is  extremely 
probable  that  the  date  in  xviii.  13  was  arrived  at  by  calculation 
based  on  xviii.  2  and  this  verse  (deducting  fifteen  years  from  the 
twenty  nine  3'ears  of  the  reign  gives  the  fourteenth  year  as  the 
date  of  the  sickness).  On  the  further  question  whether  the 
calculation  is  erroneous,  or  whether  an  editor  has  merely  trans- 
ferred the  date  of  the  sickness  to  the  invasion  of  701,  see  note  on 
XX.  12-19  below. 

and  I  will  deliver  .  .  .  sake.     Since  these  words  somewhat 

Dd 


402  II    KINGS  20.  7-1 1,     f 

king  of  Assyria ;  and  I  will  defend  this  city  for  mine  own 

7  sake,  and  for  my  servant  David's  sake.  And  Isaiah  said, 
Take  a  cake  of  figs.     And  they  took  and  laid  it  on  the 

8  boil,  and  he  recovered.  And  Hezekiah  said  unto  Isaiah, 
What  shall  be  the  sign  that  the  Lord  will  heal  me,  and 
that  I  shall  go  up  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord  the  third 

9  day  ?  And  Isaiah  said,  This  shall  be  the  sign  unto  thee 
from  the  Lord,  that  the  Lord  will  do  the  thing  that  he 
hath  spoken  :  shall  the  shadow  go  forward  ten  steps,  or 

10  go  back  ten  steps  ?    And  Hezekiah  answered.  It  is  a  light 
thing  for  the  shadow  to  decline  ten  steps :  nay,  but  let 

11  the  shadow  return  backward  ten  steps.     And  Isaiah  the 
prophet  cried  unto  the  Lord  :  and  he  brought  the  shadow 

mar  the  connexion  with  verse  7,  and  are  partly  repeated  from 
xix.  34,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  have  been  inserted 
by  the  compiler. 

7.  The  medicinal  use  of  figs  is  mentioned  by  Pliny  (///s/.  Naf. 
xxiii.  7:  'ad  aperienda  ulcera'),  and  is  kept  up  by  Oriental 
physicians  to  the  present  day.  There  is  nothing  to  warrant  the 
opinion  that  the  sickness  was  a  sporadic  case  of  the  pestilence  that 
had  destroj'ed  Sennacherib's  host. 

8.  The  request  for  a  sign  is  not  unnatural,  even  after  the  crisis 
of  the  disease  had  passed,  though  it  may  have  been  some  feeling 
of  that  kind  that  induced  the  editor  of  Isaiah  to  omit  verse  7. 
The  account  of  the  sign,  however,  is  given  in  Isaiah  in  a  much 
simpler  form  ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  resist  the  impression  that  the 
tradition  has  been  amplified  in  Kings.  Thus  it  is  probable  that 
verse  9  followed  immediately  on  verse  7,  and  that  the  sign  was 
voluntarily  appointed  by  Isaiah  (cf.  xix.  29),  without  the  ofl*er  of 
an  alternative  between  two  miracles. 

9.  shall  the  shadow,  &c.  The  Hebrew  reads  (as  in  marg.), 
*  the  shadow  is  gone  forward  ten  steps' ;  to  which  the  only  natural 
continuation  would  be  :  'it  shall  go  back  ten  steps'  (omitting  the 
particle  '?m  ^  'or').  This  corresponds  to  the  representation  in 
Isaiah  (xxxviii,  8). 

10  belongs  to  the  later  version  of  the  incident,  being  based  on 
the  misconception  of  verse  9  just  pointed  out. 

decline  is  the  same  as  'go  forward'  in  verse  9  ;  this  is  alight 
thing,  being  at  the  most  only  an  acceleration,  not  easily  verified, 
of  the  natural  order  of  things. 


II    KINGS  20.  12.     r  403 

ten  steps  backward,  by  which  it  had  gone  down  on  the 
dial  of  Ahaz. 

At  that  time  Berodach-baladan,  the  son  of  Baladan,  12 

1 1.  by  which  It  had  gone  down.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  feminine, 
whereas  '  shadow  '  (the  antecedent  to  '  it ')  is  masculine.  The  text 
has  evidently  been  accommodated  to  Isa.  xxxviii.  8,  where  the  sun 
itself  (often  feminine  in  Hebrew)  is  said  to  have  turned  back. 

the  dial  of  Ahaz  :  lii.  *  the  steps  of  Ahaz  '  (marg.).  There  is 
little  in  the  passage  to  suggest  that  a  regularly  constructed  sundial 
is  meant,  although  such  implements  were  known  to  the  Baby- 
lonians (Herod,  ii.  109)  and  might  have  been  introduced  in 
Jerusalem.  A  shadow  falling  on  a  flight  of  steps  in  the  palace 
court,  and  affording  a  rough  measure  of  time,  would  sufficiently 
explain  the  terms  used. 

XX.  T2-19.  77?^  Embassy  of  Merodach- baladan  (Isa.  xxxix). 
Merodach-baladan  was  the  ruler  of  Bit  Yakin,  a  small  Chaldaean 
state  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf  With  the  help  of  the 
Elamites  he  had  seized  Babylon  in  the  year  721,  and  reigned  there 
till  710,  when  he  was  expelled  by  Sargon.  In  the  beginning  of 
Sennacherib's  reign  (c.  702)  he  again  established  himself  in 
Babylon,  but  held  the  throne  only  about  nine  months.  Since  his 
final  overthrow  by  Sennacherib  preceded  the  campaign  of  701, 
it  is  clear  that  the  narratives  of  ch.  xx  belong  to  an  earlier  date 
than  those  of  chs.  xviii,  xix.  It  is  important  to  determine  whether 
the  embassy  here  recorded  was  sent  during  his  earlier  reign  of 
twelve  years  (721-710),  or  during  his  short  tenure  of  power  in 
702.  The  probabilities  of  the  case  are  all  in  favour  of  the  earlier 
date.  Merodach-baladan's  position  in  702  was  too  insecure  to 
afford  opportunities  for  negotiations  with  distant  enemies  or 
disaffected  provinces  of  the  Assyrian  Empire.  We  may  therefore 
assume  that  the  incident  took  place  some  time  between  721  and 
710  ;  and  we  have  to  consider  how  the  assumption  bears  on  the 
serious  difficulty  presented  by  the  chronology  of  Hezekiah's  reign. 
If  the  accession  of  Hezekiah  be  put  in  727  (see  Introd.  p.  43  f.), 
then  the  fourteenth  year  of  Hezekiah  {c.  714)  might  be  the  correct 
date  of  his  sickness  and  of  Merodach-baladan's  embassy  ;  and  the 
mistake  of  the  editor  in  xviii.  13  might  have  arisen  solely  from  the 
erroneous  assumption  that  these  events  were  the  immediate  sequel 
of  the  invasion  of  Judah,  which  actually  occurred  thirteen  years 
later.  If,  however,  Hezekiah's  accession  is  brought  down  to  720, 
it  is  plain  that  the  Babylonian  mission  cannot  be  assigned  even 
approximately  to  his  fourteenth  year.  (See  further  Winckler, 
Alttest.U lifers,  p.   laSff.) 

Ida: 

D  d  2 


404  .  II    KINGS  20.  13-17.     I' 

king  of  Babylon,  sent  letters  and  a  present  unto  Heze- 
kiah  :   for  he  had  heard  that  Hezekiah  had  been  sick. 

13  And  Hezekiah  hearkened  unto  them,  and  shewed  them 
all  the  house  of  his  precious  things,  the  silver,  and  the 
gold,  and  the  spices,  and  the  precious  oil,  and  the  house 
of  his  armour,  and  all  that  was  found  in  his  treasures  : 
there  was  nothing  in  his  house,  nor  in  all  his  dominion, 

14  that  Hezekiah  shewed  them  not.  Then  came  Isaiah  the 
prophet  unto  king  Hezekiah,  and  said  unto  him,  What 
said  these  men  ?  and  from  whence  came  they  unto  thee  ? 
And  Hezekiah  said.  They  are  come  from  a  far  country, 

15  even  from  Babylon.  And  he  said,  What  have  they  seen 
in  thine  house  ?  And  Hezekiah  answered,  All  that  is  in 
mine  house  have  they  seen :  there  is  nothing  among  my 

16  treasures  that  I  have  not  shewed  them.    And  Isaiah  said 

17  unto  Hezekiah,  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord.  Behold, 
the  days  come,  that  all  that  is  in  thine  house,  and  that 

Isa.  xxxix.  I  (so  also  LXX).     The  Babylonian  form  is  '  Marduk- 
habal-iddina.' 

that  Hezekiah  had  been  sick.  Read,  as  Isa.  xxxix.  i,  '  that 
he  had  been  sick  and  had  recovered.'  The  motive  alleged  was 
merely  a  pretext  to  cover  the  real  political  object  of  the  mission, 
which  was  to  form  a  league  against  Assyria. 

13.  For  hearkened  unto  them  we  should  again  read  as  in 
Isaiah  (and  LXX)  :  '  was  glad  because  of  them  ' — his  vanity  was 
flattered, 

the  house  of  his  precious  things.  The  Hebrew  beth  ttckoth 
is  the  equivalent  of  the  Assyrian  bit  tiakanti,  i.  e.  treasure-house  ' 
(so  LXX  L ',  &CC.).  The  resemblance  to  the  word  for  '  spices,'  on 
which  the  marginal  rendering  reposes,  is  accidental. 

the  spices  .-  .  .  oil :  natural  products  of  the  land,  stored  for 
commerce;  cf.  i  Kings  x,  10. 

the  house  of  his  armour  is  possibly  the  same  as  the  House 
of  the  Forest  of  Lebanon  (i  Kings  vii.  2  ff .  ;  cf.  Isa.  xxii.  8). 

14.  The  prophet's  interposition  shows  that  he  suspected  the 
king  of  a  disposition  to  join  an  alliance  against  Assyria— a  policy 
to  which  Isaiah  was  always  resolutely  opposed. 

1*7,  18  are  a  prophecy  of  the  Babylonian  Captivity,  not  of  the 
imprisonment  of  Manasseh  in   Babylon  in  the  reign  of  Asshur- 


II    KINGS  20.  18-21.     ro  405 

which  thy  fathers  have  laid  up  in  store  unto  this  day, 
shall  be  carried  to  Babylon  :  nothing  shall  be  left,  saith 
the  Lord.     And  of  thy  sons  that  shall  issue  from  thee,  iS 
which  thou  shalt  beget,  shall  they  take  away ;  and  they 
shall  be  eunuchs  in  the  palace  of  the  king  of  Babylon. 
Then  said  Hezekiah  unto  Isaiah,  Good  is  the  word  of  the  19 
Lord  which  thou  hast  spoken.     He  said  moreover,  Is  it 
not  so,  if  peace  and  truth  shall  be  in  my  days  ?  [D]  Now  20 
the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Hezekiah,  and  all  his  might,  and 
how  he  made  the  pool,  and  the  conduit,  and  brought 
water  into  the  city,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of 
the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah?     And  Hezekiah  21 
slept  with  his  fathers  :  and  Manasseh  his  son  reigned  in 
his  stead. 

bani-pal  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  11),  It  is,  however,  the  only  case  where 
such  a  prediction  is  attributed  to  Isaiah  ;  and  it  is  not  possible  to 
reconcile  it  with  his  known  anticipation  of  the  course  of  events. 
We  must  suppose  that  the  message  of  the  prophet  on  this  occasion 
had  reached  the  late  writer  of  the  narrative  in  a  form  coloured  by 
subsequent  history. 

18.  The  words  which  thou  shalt  beget  imply  that  the  calamity 
would  fall  on  Hezekiah's  own  children.  They  are  possibly  an 
explanatory  gloss. 

19.  Good  is  the  word  of  the  IiORD :  an  expression  of  pious 
resignation.  The  second  half  of  the  verse  is  wanting  in  the  LXX, 
and  is  given  in  a  somewhat  different  form  in  Isa.  xxxix.  8.  On  the 
postponement  of  a  calamity  as  a  mitigation  of  punishment,  see 
xxii.  18  ff.,  I  Kings  xxi.  28  f. 

XX.  20,  21.     Concluding  Notice  on  Hezekiah. 

20.  how  he  made  the  pool,  &c.  The  reference  is  undoubtedly 
to  the  so-called  Siloam  canal,  by  which  the  water  of  the  Virgin's 
Spring  (Gihon,  i  Kings  i.  33)  was  conducted  through  the  temple 
mount  to  the  Pool  of  Siloam  on  the  west  side  of  the  hill.  Cf.  the 
fuller  statement  of  2  Chron.  xxxii.  30  :  '  Hezekiah  also  stopped 
the  upper  spring  of  the  waters  of  Gihon,  and  brought  them 
straight  down  on  the  west  side  of  the  city  of  David.'  (See  also 
Ecclus.  xlviii.  17).  That  this  important  work  was  really  executed 
by  Hezekiah  there  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt.  Its  purpose  was 
to  secure  the  water  of  the  spring  (which  lay  outside  the  eastern 
wall)  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  during  a  siege. 


4o6  II   KINGS  21.  i.     D 

21      Manasseh  was  twelve  years  old  when   he  began  to 
reign ;  and  he  reigned  five  and  fifty  years  in  Jerusalem : 


xxi.  1-18.     The  Reign  of  Manasseh.     (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  1-20.) 

With  the  accession  of  Manasseh  at  the  early  age  of  twelve  the 
idolatrous  and  anti-prophetic  party  in  the  stato  seems  to  have 
recovered  its  influence  in  the  royal  councils.  The  note  of  the 
reign  was  reaction  against  the  religious  polic}'  pursued  by  the  last 
king  in  his  effort  to  centralize  and  purify  the  national  worship. 
The  reforming  measures  of  Hezekiah  were  reversed,  the  worst 
abuses  of  former  times  were  revived,  and  new  forms  of  heathenism 
and  superstition,  partly  due  to  prolonged  contact  with  Assyria, 
were  introduced.  It  is  probable  that  verse  16  refers  to  a  wholesale 
persecution  of  prophets  and  others  who  set  themselves  against  the 
current  which  threatened  to  efface  everything  distinctive  of  the 
nationality  and  religion  of  Israel.  After  ages  looked  back  on 
this  long  and  evil  reign  as  the  time  when  the  doom  of  the  nation 
was  irrevocably  sealed,  and  the  captivity  of  Israel  decreed  by 
Yahweh.     (Cf.  xxiii,  26.) 

The  account  of  the  reign  appears  to  be  wholly  the  work  'of  the 
two  chief  editors  of  Kings,  and  contains  no  statement  that  can  be 
definitely  assigned  to  an  independent  source,  although  one  at  least 
was  available  (verse  17).  The  introductory  and  closing  formulas 
are  of  course  to  be  assigned  to  the  main  compiler,  and  probably 
also  verse  16.  Verses  7-15,  which  presuppose  the  Exile,  and 
show  how  that  calamity  was  rendered  inevitable  by  the  sins  of 
Manasseh,  in  spite  of  Yahweh's  promises  regarding  the  temple, 
are  supposed  to  have  been  added  by  the  Exilic  redactor  from 
whose  hand  the  book  was  finally  issued.  In  the  remaining 
verses  (2 '^-6)  it  is  quite  impossible  to  discriminate  between  the 
two  editors. 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  reign  of  Manasseh  coincides  with  the 
highest  development  of  Assyrian  power  in  the  west.  The  long- 
coveted  conquest  of  Egypt  was  effected  by  Esar-haddon  (681-668) 
in  670,  and  was  maintained  in  the  early  j-ears  of  Asshur-bani-pal 
(668-626).  That  Manasseh  was  a  vassal  of  Assyria  might  safely 
be  taken  for  granted ;  and  we  have  monumental  d'vidence  of  the 
fact  in  two  lists  of  tributary  princes  (one  of  Esar-haddon's  reign, 
and  the  other  of  Asshur-bani-pal's)  where  his  name  occurs  {COT, 
ad  loc.).  The  account  of  his  being  taken  as  a  prisoner  to  Babylon 
(2  Chron.  xxxiii.  11-13)  is  thought  to  be  connected  with  his 
participation  in  the  revolt  of  Shamash-shum-ukin,  brother  of 
Asshur-bani-pal  (r.  647).  There  is  no  reason  to  question  the 
historicity  of  the  notice  in  Chronicles,  although  the  further  state- 
ment that  he  repented  and  reversed  the  policy  of  his  earlier  reign 
is  harder  to  believe  in  the  face  of  the  silence  of  Kings. 


II    KINGS  21.  2-6.     D  407 

and  his  mother's  name  was  Hephzi-bah.     And  he  did  2 
that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  after  the 
abominations  of  the  heathen,  whom  the  Lord  cast  out 
before  the  children  of  Israel.     For  he  built  again  the  3 
high  places  which  Hezekiah  his  father  had  destroyed; 
and  he  reared  up  altars  for  Baal,  and  made  an  Asherah, 
as  did  Ahab  king  of  Israel,  and  worshipped  all  the  host 
of  heaven,  and  served  them.     And  he  built  altars  in  the  4 
house  of  the  Lord,  whereof  the  Lord  said,  In  Jerusalem 
will  I  put  my  name.     And  he  built  altars  for  all  the  host  5 
of  heaven  in  the  two  courts  of  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
And  he   made   his  son  to  pass  through  the  fire,  and  6 
practised  augury,  and  used  enchantments,  and  dealt  with 

2.  did  that  whicli  was  evil. .  .  .  The  expression  refers  as  usual 
to  sins  of  atltus  committed  by  Manasseh.  These  are  enumerated 
in  the  succeeding  verses,  and  are  condemned  from  three  points 
of  view  :  (a)  as  a  repetition  of  the  abominations  of  the  aboriginal 
Canaanites  (verses  2,  9,  11  :  cf.  xvi.  3,  xvii.  8,  11) ;  (b)  as  an 
imitation  of  the  heathenism  of  the  house  of  Ahab  (verse  3  :  cf. 
xvi,  3);  and  (c)  as  a  profanation  of  the  temple  (verses  7  ff.). 

3.  On  Hezekiah's  reformation,  see  xviii.  4 ;  on  Ahab's  Baal-altar 
and  Asherah,  i  Kings  xvi.  32  f.  For  altars  the  LXX  has,  here 
and  in  verses  4,  5,  'altar.' 

all  the  host  of  heaven :  the  heavenly  bodies  (sun,  moon,  and 
stars),  as  xvii.  16;  Deut.  iv.  19,  xvii.  3,  &c.  This  astral  worship 
had  its  origin  and  centre  in  Babylonia,  and  was  naturalized  in 
Judah  in  consequence  of  its  long  subjection  to  the  influence  of 
Assyrian  civilization.  The  allusions  in  the  contemporary  literature 
(Deut.  ;  Zeph.  i.  5;  Jer.  viii,  2,  xix.  13:  cf.  Jer.  xliv.  17  fT.,  &c.) 
show  how  prevalent  it  became  in  the  century  preceding  the  Exile. 

4.  In  Jerusalem  .  .  .  name :  referring  to  the  building  of  the 
temple  ;  cf.  i  Kings  viii.  16,  ix.  3. 

5.  in  the  two  courts.  So  far  as  we  know  the  pre-Exilic 
temple  had  only  one  court.  Either  the  expression  includes  the 
palace-court,  or  the  language  is  accommodated  to  the  arrangement 
of  the  second  temple,  in  which  case  it  would  be  an  interpolation 
(superfluous  in  any  case  after  verse  4). 

6.  On  child-sacrifice,  see  xvi.  3. 

practised  .  .  .  enchantments.  See  Deut.  xviii.  10,  11,  where 
all  the  offences  specified  in  this  verse  are  expressly  forbidden. 

dealt   with.      Render,    as    marg.,   'appointed,'  legalizing   a 


4o8  II    KINGS  21.  7-11.     D  D^ 

them   that  had  familiar  spirits,   and  with  wizards  :    he 
wrought  much  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  to  provoke 

7  him  to  anger.  [D'^]  And  he  set  the  graven  image  of 
Asherah,  that  he  had  made,  in  the  house  of  which  the 
Lord  said  to  David  and  to  Solomon  his  son,  In  this 
house,  and  in  Jerusalem,  which  I  have  chosen  out  of  all 

8  the  tribes  of  Israel,  will  I  put  my  name  for  ever :  neither 
will  I  cause  the  feet  of  Israel  to  wander  any  more  out  of 
the  land  which  I  gave  their  fathers ;  if  only  they  will 
observe  to  do  according  to  all  that  I  have  commanded 
them,  and   according   to   all    the   law  that   my  servant 

9  Moses  commanded  them.  But  they  hearkened  not :  and 
Manasseh  seduced  them  to  do  that  which  is  evil  more 
than  did  the  nations,  whom  the  Lord  destroyed  before 

10  the  children  of  Israel.     And  the  Lord  spake  by  his 

ir  servants  the  prophets,  saying,  Because  Manasseh  king  of 

Judah  hath  done  these  abominations,   and  hath  done 

wickedly  above  all  that  the  Amorites  did,  which  were 

before  him,  and  hath  made  Judah  also  to  sin  with  his 


practice  that  had  long  been  recognized  as  opposed  to  the  religion 
of  Yahweh  (i  Sam.  xxviii.  3).  The  Hebrew  word  '6b  seems  to 
have  originally  denoted  the  'familiar  spirit'  itself,  i.e.  the  ghost 
of  a  person  deceased  ;  the  medium  through  whom  its  communica- 
tions were  given  was  strictly  baal  '6h^  or  baalath  '6b  (possessor  of 
an  '6b).  Here  we  have  an  instance  of  the  secondary  usage,  in 
which  the  name  '06  is  applied  to  the  medium  himself  (or  herself). 
7.  the  grraveu  imagfe  of  Asherah.  See  on  i  Kings  xiv.  23. 
Asherah  is  here  plainly  used  as  the  proper  name  of  a  goddess. 
the  IiOBD  said  .  .  .  son:   i  Kings  viii.  15-26,  ix.  i  ff. 

9.  After  evil  the  LXX  adds,  '  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord '  (as 
verses  2,  15,  &c.). 

10.  The  following  verses  (11-15)  are  a  summary  of  the  messages 
of  the  prophets  of  this  period,  of  whom  there  were  doubtless 
many  more  than  we  know  of:  cf.  the  oracle  of  Huldah,  xxii.  15  ff., 
Jer.  xxvi.  20. 

11.  and  hath  done  wickedly  above  . . .  Better,  as  LXX,  'which 
are  worse  than  .  ,  ,' 


II    KINGS  21.  12-iS.     D^D  409 

idols:  therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  12 
Behold,  I  bring  such  evil  upon  Jerusalem  and   Judah, 
that  whosoever  heareth  of  it,  both  his  ears  shall  tingle. 
And  I  will  stretch  over  Jerusalem  the  line  of  Samaria,  i?. 
and  the  plummet  of  the  house  of  Ahab :  and  I  will  wipe 
Jerusalem  as  a  man  wipeth  a  dish,  wiping  it  and  turning 
it  upside  down.     And  I  will  cast  off  the  remnant  of  mine  14 
inheritance,   and   deliver  them   into  the  hand  of  their 
enemies  ;  and  they  shall  become  a  prey  and  a  spoil  to  all 
their  enemies  ;  because  they  have  done  that  which  is  evil  15 
in  my  sight,  and  have  provoked  me  to  anger,  since  the 
day  their  fathers  came  forth  out  of  Egypt,  even  unto  this 
day.     [D]  Moreover  Manasseh  shed  innocent  blood  very  16 
much,  till   he   had  filled   Jerusalem   from  one  end  lo 
another;  beside  his  sin  wherewith  he  made  Judah  to  sin, 
in  doing  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord. 
Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Manasseh,  and  all  that  he  ij- 
did,  and  his  sin  that  he  sinned,  are  they  not  written  in 
the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah?    And  18 
Manasseh  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in  the 
garden  of  his  own  house,  in  the  garden  of  Uzza :  and 
Amon  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

12.  "botli  Ms  ears  shall  tingle :  i  Sam.  iii.  11  ;  Jer.  xix.  3. 

13.  The  first  part  of  the  verse  says  simply  that  the  fate  of 
Samaria  and  its  chief  dynasty  shall  be  meted  out  to  Jerusalem. 
That  measuring  line  and  plummet  should  in  themselves  have  been 
current  emblems  of  destruction  is  hardly  conceivable,  in  spite  of 
Isa.  xxxiv.  II  ;  Lam.  ii.  8.  Amos  vii.  8  does  not  suggest  such  an 
idea,  any  more  than  the  verse  before  us. 

as   a   man  wipetli  a  dish.     Isa.  xxiv.   i  seems  to  contain 
a  reminiscence  of  this  strong  simile, 

16.  innocent  blood:  see  xxiv.  4,  and  cf.  Deut.  xix.  10,  &c. 
from  one  end  to  another  :  lit.  '  mouth  to  mouth ' ;  as  in  x.  21. 
Amongst  those  slain   by  Manasseh  Jewish  legend  places  Isaiah 
the  prophet, 

18.  in  the  garden  of  Uzza.  The  interment  of  Hezekiah 
(2  Chron.  xxxii.  33)  seems  to  have  been  the  last  that  took  place 


4IO  II    KINGS  21.  19-26.     DKJD 

19  Anion  was  twenty  and  two  years  old  when  he  began 
to  reign ;  and  he  reigned  two  years  in  Jerusalem :  and 
his  mother's  name  was  Meshullemeth  the  daughter  of 

20  Haruz  of  Jotbah.     And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in 

2 1  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  as  did  Manasseh  his  father.  And 
he  walked  in  all  the  way  that  his  father  walked  in,  and 
served  the  idols  that  his  father  served,  and  worshipped 

a  2  them  :  and  he  forsook  the  Lord,  the  God  of  his  fathers, 

23  and  walked  not  in  the  way  of  the  Lord.  [KJ]  And  the 
servants  of  Amon  conspired  against  him,  and  put  the 

24  king  to  death  in  his  own  house.  But  the  people  of  the 
land  slew  all  them  that  had  conspired  against  king 
Amon ;  and  the  people  of  the  land  made  Josiah  his  son 

25  king  in  his  stead.  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Amon  which  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of 

26  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?  And  he  was  buried 


in  the  ancient  sepulchre  of  the  kings  of  Judah  '  in  the  city  of 
David.'  '  Uzza  '  is  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  Azariah  (Uzziah), 
and  the  garden  here  referred  to  must  have  been  one  laid  oi;t  by 
that  king  in  the  court  of  the  palace.  Since  it  is  also  called  the 
Sfarden  of  Ms  own  house,  we  may  suppose  that  Manasseh  had  built 
a  house  within  it,  in  the  grounds  of  which  he  made  a  private 
sepulchre  for  himself.  Here  Amon  also  was  buried  (verse  26)  ; 
Josiah  was  buried  '  in  his  own  sepulchre  '  (xxiii.  30)  ;  the  burial  of 
Jehoiakim  is  not  recorded  (but  see  on  xxiv.  6)  ;  and  of  the  remain- 
ing kings  none  died  in  Canaan.  It  is  probably  these  graves  that 
Ezekiel  alludes  to  in  xliii.  7  as  contaminating  the  temple  by  their 
proximity — with  'but  the  wall  between  me  and  them.' 

xxi.  19-26.  The  Reign  of  Amon.  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  21-25,) 
Of  this  king's  reign  nothing  is  recorded  except  that  he  followed 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  father.  Like  his  ancestor  Jehoash  he  fell 
by  a  conspiracy  amongst  the  courtiers,  of  the  cause  of  which  we 
are  not  informed.  The  crime  was  avenged  by  the  body  of  the 
people,  who  set  his  young  son  Josiah  on  the  throne.  It  is  hardly 
to  be  supposed,  therefore,  that  dissatisfaction  with  the  idolatrous 
tendencies  of  the  court  was  the  motive  of  the  assassination,  or  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  complete  reversal  of  religious  policy  which 
marked  the  succeeding  reign. 


II    KINGS  22.  I.     D  4" 

in  his  sepulchre  in  the  garden  of  Uzza :  and  Josiah  his 
son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

Josiah  was  eight  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign ;  22 


26.  Instead  of  in  his  sepulchre  LXX  (L)  reads,  '  in  the 
sepulchre  of  his  father.'     See  on  verse  i8. 

xxii.  I — xxiii.  30.  Josiah  and  the  Deuteronomic  Reformation. 
(2  Chron.  xxxiv.  i — xxxv.  27.) 

The  events  which  make  the  reign  of  Josiah  memorable  in  the 
religious  history  of  Israel  are  the  discovery  of  a  lost  law-book  in 
the  temple,  the  formation  of  a  national  covenant  on  the  basis  of 
that  document,  and  a  thorough- going  reform  of  the  public  religion 
in  accordance  with  its  requirements.  The  record  of  the  reign  is 
occupied  almost  entirely  with  a  circumstantial  account  of  these 
occurrences.  The  basis  of  the  narrative  is  in  all  probability  the 
Judaean  document  which  appears  in  ch.  xii  and  xvi.  This  has 
been  slightly  altered  and  supplemented  here  and  there  bj' editors  ; 
but  on  the  whole  it  remains  intact ;  and,  being  older  than  the  first 
compiler  of  Kings,  must  be  very  nearly  contemporaneous  with  the 
events  narrated. 

That  the  legal  code  then  promulgated  corresponds  in  the  main 
with  some  form  of  our  Book  of  Deuteronomy  was  perceived  by 
Jerome  and  other  patristic  writers,  and  is  rendered  practically 
certain  by  critical  evidence.  It  is  impossible  here  to  summarize 
the  arguments  by  which  that  conclusion  is  supported  (see  Driver, 
Cotnmentaiy  on  Deuteronomy)  ;  but  one  important  element  is  the 
numerous  coincidences  (to  be  pointed  out  below)  between  the 
reforms  actually  carried  out  by  Josiah  and  the  provisions  of 
Deuteronomy.  No  other  part  of  the  Pentateuch  is  involved  in 
Josiah's  reformation  ;  and  indeed  the  code  must  have  been 
comparatively  short  to  admit  of  its  being  read  twice  in  succession 
by  different  persons  in  one  day.  The  narrative,  of  course,  throws 
no  light  on  the  date  or  authorship  of  the  book.  It  is  noticeable 
that  its  Mosaic  origin  is  nowhere  asserted  ;  the  only  place  where 
it  is  spoken  of  as  *  the  law  of  Moses '  being  xxiii.  25,  which  is 
plainly  an  editorial  addition.  It  can  hardly  be  the  case,  therefore, 
that  the  belief  in  its  Mosaic  authorship  had  very  much  to  do  with 
its  ready  acceptance,  although  it  be  tnie  that  no  part  of  the  Penta- 
teuch so  ostensibly  claims  to  be  the  work  of  Moses  as  Deuter- 
onomy. The  profound  impression  which  it  created  must  be 
explained  rather  by  its  ap^peal  to  the  national  conscience,  en- 
lightened by  a  succession  of  prophetically  minded  men  from  Isaiah 
downwards.  That  being  so,  the  theory  of  forgery  or  pious  fraud  — 
that  Hilkiah  the  priest  had  been  a  part}'  to  the  preparation  of  the 
book,  and  only  pretended  to  have  found  it — becomes  something  of 


412  II    KINGS  22.  2-4.     DJ 

and  he  reigned  thirty  and  one  years  in  Jerusalem :  and 
his  mother's  name  was  Jedidah  the  daughter  of  Adaiah 

2  of  Bozkath.  And  he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  w\alked  in  all  the  way  of  David 
his  father,  and  turned  not  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  to 
the  left. 

3  [Jj  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  king 
Josiah,  that  the  king  sent  Shaphan  the  son  of  Azaliah, 
the  son  of  Meshullam,  the  scribe,  to  the  house  of  the 

4  Lord,  saying,  Go  up  to  Hilkiah  the  high  priest,  that  he 

an  irrelevance  :  men  do  not  perpetrate  literary  forgeries  except  to 
invoke  the  authority  of  some  great  name.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
internal  evidence  of  the  Book  of  Deuteronom}'^  makes  it  impossible 
to  assign  it  to  an  earlier  date  than  the  age  of  Manasseh  ;  and  the 
hypothesis  that  it  was  composed  during  that  reign,  and  deposited 
in  the  temple  for  safety,  and  afterwards  lost  sight  of,  is  perhaps  the 
one  that  best  satisfies  all  the  conditions  of  the  problem. 

xxii.  I,  2.  Introduction.  The  compiler's  unqualified  approval 
of  this  reign,  along  with  that  of  Hezekiah,  is  a  measure  of  his 
absorbing  interest  in  the  purity  of  worship.  These  kings  are 
unreservedly  commended  as  the  only  two  who  seriously  undertook 
the  suppression  of  the  high  places,  those  last  and  almost  impreg- 
nable strongholds  of  false  religion  in  Israel. 

xxii.  3-rr.  The  Discovery  of  the  Law-Book.  In  his  eighteenth 
year  Josiah  sends  his  secretary  Shaphan  to  the  temple,  to  see  to 
the  distribution  of  the  money  collected  for  the  repair  of  the 
sanctuary,  in  accordance  with  the  regulations  introduced  by 
Jehoash  (xii.  9  ff,).  After  this  business  had  been  satisfactorily 
arranged  the  priest  Hilkiah  produced  a  book  of  law  which  he 
had  found  in  the  temple.  Shaphan,  on  reading  it,  perceived  its 
importance,  and  determined  to  bring  it  under  the  notice  of  the 
king,  to  whom  he  read  it  aloud,  after  giving  in  his  official  report. 
The  contents  made  a  profound  impression  on  the  mind  of  Josiah, 
in  whom  its  threats  against  prevalent  abuses  excited  the  gravest 
apprehensions  for  the  future  of  the  state. 

3.  the  eighteenth  year  of  king  Josiah  would  be  621  b.  c.  The 
LXX  dates  the  incident  more  precisely,  'in  the  eighth  month'; 
but  see  on  xxiii.  23  below. 

4.  the  high  priest.     The  title  recurs  in  verse  8  and  xxiii.  4  ; 


II    KINGS  22.  5-10.     J  413 

may  sum  the  money  which  is  brought  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  which  the  keepers  of  the  door  have  gathered 
of  the  people :  and  let  them  deliver  it  into  the  hand  of  5 
the  workmen  that  have  the  oversight  of  the  house  of  the 
L/ORD :  and  let  them  give  it  to  the  workmen  which  are 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  to  repair  the  breaches  of  the 
house ;  unto  the  carpenters,  and  to  the  builders,  and  to  6 
the  masons;  and  for  buying  timber  and  hewn  stone  to 
repair   the   house.     Howbeit    there    was    no   reckoning  7 
made  with  them  of  the  money  that  was  dehvered  into 
their  hand ;  for  they  dealt  faithfully.     And  Hilkiah  the  8 
high  priest  said  unto  Shaphan  the  scribe,  I  have  found 
the  book  of  the  law  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.     And 
Hilkiah  delivered  the  book  to  Shaphan,  and  he  read  it. 
And  Shaphan  the  scribe  came  to  the  king,  and  brought  9 
the  king  word  again,  and  said,  Thy  servants  have  emptied 
out  the  money  that  was  found  in  the  house,  and  have 
delivered  it  into  the  hand  of  the  workmen  that  have  the 
oversight  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.     And  Shaphan  the  10 
scribe  told   the  king,   saying,    Hilkiah   the   priest   hath 


elsewhere  (verses  10,  12,  14,  xxiii.  24)  Hilkiah  is  simply  called 
'  the  priest.' 

For  sum  LXX  (B)  has  •'  seal  up '  ;  LXX  (L)  '  pour  out.'  The 
last  agrees  with  verse  9,  and  is  probably  the  most  suitable 
reading. 

B~*7.  See  the  notes  on  xii.  9  ff . 

8.  the  book  of  the  law  (cf.  the  indeterminate  'a  book'  in  verse 
io\  The  rendering '  a  book  of  the  law'  is  grammatically  admissible, 
though  hardly  natural.  The  definite  expression  would  be  difficult 
to  explain  in  the  mouth  of  the  priest  :  it  suggests  the  *  idea  of  an 
ancient  book  of  law  known  in  former  times  and  now  merely  re- 
discovered '  (Ewald),  That  sense  is  not  impossible,  on  the  sup- 
position that  Deuteronomy  had  actually  been  lost  in  the  reign  of 
Manasseh  ;  and  is,  at  any  rate,  as  consistent  with  that  hypothesis 
as  with  the  belief  that  the  book  was  written  b3^  Moses.  At  the 
same  time,  since  Deuteronomy  was  known  for  more  than  a 
century  after  this  as  the  book  of  the  law,  we  may  suppose  that  the 


414  n    KINGS  22.  11-13.     J 

delivered  me  a  book.     And  Shaphan  read  it  before  the 

1  king.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king  had  heard 
the  words  of  the  book  of  the  law,  that  he  rent  his  clothes. 

2  And  the  king  commanded  Hilkiah  the  priest,  and  Ahikam 
the  son  of  Shaphan,  and  Achbor  the  son  of  Micaiah,  and 
Shaphan  the  scribe,  and  Asaiah  the  king's  servant,  saying, 

3  Go  ye,  inquire  of  the  Lord  for  me,  and  for  the  people, 
and  for  all  Judah,  concerning  the  words  of  this  book  that 

writer  has  employed  the  expression  familiar  to  himself,  instead  of 
reporting  the  ipsissima  verba  of  Hilkiah. 

10.  read  it.  In  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  18  the  phrase  is  altered  to 
'read  therein^',  probably  under  the  impression  that  the  book  v/as 
the  entire  Pentateuch,  which  was  seen  to  be  too  long  to  be  read 
through  in  the  course  of  an  interview. 

11.  The  king's  consternation  proves  that  the  law-book  must 
have  contained  some  fearful  denunciations  of  the  neglect  of 
Yahweh's  covenant.  (Cf.  verses  13,  16,  17.)  No  part  of  the 
Pentateuch  is  so  well  fitted  to  inspire  such  alarm  as  the  closing 
discourses  of  Deuteronomy  (ch.  xxviii,  xxix). 

xxii.  ia-20.  Consitltation  of  the  Prophetess  Huldah.  On  hear- 
ing the  terrific  curses  with  which  the  book  closed,  Josiah  immedi- 
ately seeks  prophetic  guidance,  not  of  course  with  regard  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  document,  but  with  regard  to  the  possibility 
of  forgiveness  for  the  sins  of  the  past.  For  this  purpose  he  sends 
Shaphan  and  Hilkiah,  with  three  other  nobles,  to  a  prophetess 
named  Huldah,  the  wife  of  one  of  his  courtiers.  The  answer  of 
Huldah  is  to  the  effect  that  the  judgement  is  indeed  irreversible, 
but  is  deferred  on  account  of  the  devout  spirit  manifested  by 
Josiah.  It  is  thought  by  many  critics  that  the  original  oracle  held 
out  brighter  prospects,  and  has  been  remodelled  by  the  younger 
editor  in  accordance  with  the  actual  issue.  That  the  speech  has 
been  revised  appears  from  the  Deuteronomic  phraseology  ;  and  it 
is  argued  that  the  enthusiasm  with  which  Josiah  set  about  the  work 
of  reformation  would  be  unintelligible  unless  there  had  been  a  real 
hope  of  attaining  an  absolutely  satisfactory  result.  It  is  doubtful, 
however,  how  far  that  argument  is  valid  ;  and  the  language  of 
verse  20  is  not  consistent  with  the  assumption  that  it  is  a  prophecy 
after  the  event. 

la.  The  title  of  king's  servant  appears  on  an  ancient  Hebrew 
seal,  bearing  the  inscription  :  '  To  Obadiah  the  servant  of  the 
king'  (Benzinger,  Archaeologic,  p.  258;.  It  therefore  denotes 
a  particular  office,  though  we  are  ignorant  of  its  precise  functions. 


II    KINGS  22.  14-18.     JD2  415 

is  found  :    for  great  is  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  that  is 
kindled  against  us,  because  our  fathers  have  not  hearken- 
ed unto  the  words  of  this  book,  to  do  according  unto  all 
that  which   is  written  concerning  us.     So  Hilkiah   the  14 
prie.st,   and    Ahikani,   and    Achbor,   and    Shaphan,  and 
Asaiah,  went  unto  Huldah  the  prophetess,  the  wife  of 
Shallum  the  son  of  Tikvah,  the  son  of  Harhas,  keeper  of 
the  wardrobe ;  (now  she  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  in  the  second 
quarter;)  and  they  communed  with  her.     And  she  said  15 
unto  them,   Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel : 
Tell  ye  the  man  that  sent  you  unto  me,  [D^]  Thus  saith  16 
the  Lord,  Behold,  I  will  bring  evil  upon  this  place,  and 
upon  the  inhabitants  thereof,  even  all  the  words  of  the 
book  which  the  king  of  Judah  hath  read  :  because  they  17 
have  forsaken  me,  and  have  burned  incense  unto  other 
gods,  that  they  might  provoke  me  to  anger  with  all  the 
work  of  their  hands ;  therefore  my  wrath  shall  be  kindled 
against  this  place,  and  it  shall  not  be  quenched.     But  18 
unto  the  king  of  Judah,  who  sent  you  to  inquire  of  the 

13.  great  is  the  wrath,  &c.    See  on  verse  1 1. 

For  written  concerning  us  it  is  better  to  read:  ^written  in 
it,'  as  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  21  (so  LXX  (L) ). 

14.  It  has  been  thought  surprising  that  the  prophet  Jeremiah 
was  not  consulted  on  this  occasion.  But  Jeremiah  was  still 
a  young  man  (Jer.  i.  6),  and  probably  little  known  in  the 
capital.  Although  he  had  for  five  years  been  conscious  of  his 
vocation,  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  acquired  much  public 
influence  till  long  after  these  events.  Huldah,  on  the  other  hand, 
must  have  been  a  prophetess  of  established  reputation. 

in  the  second  quarter  :  cf.  Zeph.  i.  10.  A  division  of  the 
city  into  two  districts  is  also  presupposed  by  Neh.  iii.  9,  12;  but 
nothing  further  is  known  about  them. 

they  communed  with  her  :  ///.  *  spake  to  her,'  communicat- 
ing the  contents  of  the  newly-discovered  book. 

16,  17.  For  the  phraseology,  see  i  Kings  ix.  6,  xiv.  9,  10  ;  and 
cf.  Jer.  vii.  20,  xix.  3  f ,  xxxii.  30,  &c. 

18.  The  verse  ends  in  Hebrew  with  an  unfinished  sentence  : 
'  The  words  which  thou  hast  heard'  ;   the  phrase  'as  touching' 


4i6  II    KINGS  22.  19—23.  1.     D^  J 

Lord,  thus  shall  ye  say  to  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
the  God  of  Israel :   As  touching  the  words  which  thou 

19  hast  heard,  because  thine  heart  was  tender,  and  thou 
didst  humble  thyself  before  the  Lord,  when  thou  heard- 
est  what  I  spake  against  this  place,  and  against  the  inhabi- 
tants thereof,  that  they  should  become  a  desolation  and 
a  curse,  and  hast  rent  thy  clothes,  and  wept  before  me ; 

20  I  also  have  heard  thee,  saith  the  Lord.  Therefore, 
behold,  I  will  gather  thee  to  thy  fathers,  and  thou  shalt 
be  gathered  to  thy  grave  in  peace,  neither  shall  thine 
eyes  see  all  the  evil  which  I  will  bring  upon  this  place. 
[J]  And  they  brought  the  king  word  again. 

23      And  the  king  sent,  and  they  gathered  unto  him  all  the 

has  no  equivalent  in  the  original.  It  is  difficult  to  say  how  the 
text  should  be  supplemented.  Possibly  the  best  reading  is  that 
presupposed  by  LXX  (L)  and  the  Vulgate  :  *  Inasmuch  as  thou 
hast  heard  my  words,  and  thy  heart  was  tender,'  &c. 

20.  Cf.  I  Kings  xxi.  29  ;  2  Kings  xx.  19.  The  promise  that 
Josiali  should  be  gathered  to  his  grave  in  peace  is  hardly  in 
accordance  with  the  actual  circumstances  of  his  death  ;  and  is  not 
likely  to  have  been  composed  after  that  event. 

xxiii.  1-3.  Iiiaiigiiration  of  the  Covenant.  As  the  first  step 
towards  placing  the  nation  on  a  right  footing  with  Yahweh, 
Josiah  convenes  a  great  popular  assembly  in  the  temple  ;  and, 
after  reading  the  law-book  in  the  audience  of  the  people,  enters 
with  them  into  a  solemn  covenant  to  observe  this  law  as  the 
supreme  rule  of  national  conduct.  With  regard  to  the  nature 
of  the  transaction,  the  following  points  are  to  be  noted  :  ( i)  A 
covenant  is  not  necessarily  bilateral,  that  is  to  say,  it  does  not 
necessarily  imply  reciprocal  obligations  between  two  parties.  The 
word  (Jberith)  seems  to  have  denoted  simply  a  well-understood  and 
complex  religious  ceremony,  which  rendered  an  undertaking  per- 
manently and  irrevocably  binding  on  those  concerned  ;  and  this 
ceremony  was  equally  applicable  to  mutual  engagements  between 
two  parties,  to  conditions  imposed  by  one  party  on  another,  and 
to  obligations  assumed  by  one  party  for  himself.  (2)  Although 
covenants  between  God  and  men  are  often  mentioned  in  the  O.  T., 
it  does  not  appear  that  in  the  present  case  Yahweh  was  a  party 
to  the  covenant.  It  was  made  not  ivith  Yahweh,  but  'before 
Yahweh.'    Neither  was  it  a  covenant  between  the  king  on  the  one 


II    KINGS  23.  2,  3.     J  417 

elders  of  Judah  and  of  Jerusarem.  And  the  king  went  up  2 
to  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  men  of  Judah  and 
all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  with  him,  and  the  priests, 
and  the  prophets,  and  all  the  people,  both  small  and 
great :  -and  he  read  in  their  ears  all  the  words  of  the 
book  of  the  covenant  which  was  found  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  And  the  king  stood  by  the  pillar,  and  made  3 
a  covenant  before  the  Lord,  to  walk  after  the  Lord,  and 
to  keep  his  commandments,  and  his  testimonies,  and  his 
statutes,  with  all  his  heart,  and  all  his  soul,  to  confirm 


part  and  the  people  on  the  other,  as  in.  xi.  17^  It  was  nothing 
more  than  a  solemn  engagement  on  the  part  of  king  and  people 
together  to  keep  the  law.  (3)  It  is  not  clear  whether  this  covenant 
was  primarily  personal  or  national.  From  the  fact  that  the  ad- 
hesion of  the  people  is  only  mentioned  at  the  end  it  has  been 
supposed  that  it  was  in  the  first  instance  a  personal  promise  of 
Josiah  that  he  would  carry  out  the  requirements  of  the  law,  in 
which  the  people  afterwards  concurred.  But  the  exact  meaning 
of  the  phrase  '  stood  to  the  covenant '  is  obscure  ;  and  since  the 
law  was  read  to  the  people  before  the  covenant,  it  seems  probable 
that  the  transaction  was  in  its  first  intention  national,  the  king 
acting  as  the  representative  of  the  people.  (4)  The  effect  of  the 
covenant  was  to  give  to  the  Deuteronomic  Code  the  force  of 
statute  law.  It  may  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  '  the  ancient 
Hebrews  had  no  other  conception  of  law  except  that  of  a  contract,' 
and  that  *  a  law  became  binding  only  when  those  who  were  to  be 
bound  by  it  had  pledged  themselves  to  its  observance  '  ;  but  that 
was  certainly  the  manner  in  which  this  particular  law  became 
authoritative.  (See  Kraetschmar,  Die  Bundesvorstellung  im  Alien 
Testament',  Davidson's  article,  '  Covenant,' in  Z)5.) 

2.  the  book  of  the  covenant.  Cf.  verse  21,  Exod.  xxiv.  7. 
The  title  is  not  descriptive  of  any  particular  code  in  itself;  it  means 
the  book  which  is  made  the  basis  of  a  covenant— the  document  in 
which  the  terms  of  the  covenant  are  expressed. 

3.  by  the  pillar,  as  in  xi.  14. 

made  a  covenant  is  lit.  •  cut  a  covenant' ;  the  usual  technical 
phrase,  derived  from  the  custom  of  cutting  sacrificial  victims  into 
pieces,  between  which  the  parties  to  the  covenant  passed  (Gen.  xv. 
17  ;   Jer.  xxxiv.  i8,  19). 

before  the  IiOBD.  A  covenant  was  in  all  cases  a  religious 
transaction  in  wfiich  Yahweh  was  invoked  as  the  presiding  deity. 

to  confirm,  or,  *  maintain.' 

E  e 


4iS  II    KINGS  23.  4-6.     J 

the  words  of  this  covenant  that  were  written  in  this  book  : 

4  and  all  the  people  stood  to  the  covenant.  And  the  king 
commanded  Hilkiah  the  high  priest,  and  the  priests  of 
the  second  order,  and  the  keepers  of  the  door,  to  bring 
forth  out  of  the  temple  of  the  Lord  all  the  vessels  that 
were  made  for  Baal,  and  for  the  Asherah,  and  for  all  the 
host  of  heaven  :  and  he  burned  them  without  Jerusalem 
in  the  fields  of  Kidron,  and  carried  the  ashes  of  them 

5  unto  Beth-el.  And  he  put  down  the  idolatrous  priests, 
whom  the  kings  of  Judah  had  ordained  to  burn  incense 
in  the  high  places  in  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  in  the 
places  round  about  Jerusalem;  them  also  that  burned 
incense  unto  Baal,  to  the  sun,  and  to  the  moon,  and  to 

6  the  planets,  and  to  all  the  host  of  heaven.     And  he 

stood  to  tlie  covenant.  The  expression  does  not  occur 
elsewhere,  and  its  origin  and  significance  are  obscure. 

xxiii.  4-15.  The  Reformation  of  the  Cultus.  The  inauguration 
of  the  covenant  was  immediately  followed  by  a  series  of  sweeping 
reforms,  which  were  carried  out  with  every  mark  of  earnestness 
and  even  violence.  The  particulars  fall  under  two  heads  :  (i)  the 
purification  of  the  temple  from  idolatrous  emblems  ;  and  (2)  the 
suppression  of  the  provincial  sanctuaries  or  high  places.  The 
former  gives  a  startling  picture  of  the  extent  to  which  the  worship 
of  Yahweh  had  been  invaded  by  heathenish  practices. 

4.  the  priests  of  the  second  order  should  probably  be  read  as 
singular  :  '  the  second  priest ' ;  cf.  xxv.  18  (  =  Jer.  lii.  24),  where 
the  '  second  priest '  is  named  between  the  '  head  priest '  and  the 
'  keepers  of  the  threshold  '  (marg.). 

Asherah :  here  again  the  female  consort  of  Baal,  as  xxi.  7  ; 
see  on  i  Kings  xiv.  23. 

the  host  of  heaven :  see  xxi.  3,  and  Deut.  iv.  19,  xvii.  3. 

the  fields  of  Kidron:  cf.  Jer.  xxxi.  40.  Some  would  read 
'  furnaces,'  after  LXX  (L). 

5.  the  idolatrons  priests :  Heb.  kemdrim,  a  word  of  doubtful 
etymology,  but  used  in  the  O.  T.  only  in  a  contemptuous  sense 
(Hos.  x.  5  ;  Zeph.  i.  4).  This  class  of  functionaries  is  said  to  have 
been  appointed  by  the  kings  of  Judah,  and  must  be  distinguished 
from  the  Levitical  priests  of  the  high  places,  with  regard  to  whom 
see  below  on  verses  8,  9. 

the  planets  (Heb.  nmszdloth  :  cf.  ntazedroth  in  Job  xxxviii. 


II    KINGS  23.  7,  8.     J  419 

brought  out  the  Asherah  from  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
without  Jerusalem,  unto  the  brook  Kidron,  and  burned  it 
at  tlie  brook  Kidron,  and  stamped  it  small  to  powder,  and 
cast  the  powder  thereof  upon  the  graves  of  the  common 
people.  And  he  brake  down  the  houses  of  the  sodomites,  7 
that  were  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  where  the  women 
wove  hangings  for  the  Asherah.  And  he  brought  all  the  8 
priests  out  of  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  defiled  the  high 
places  where  the  priests  had  burned  incense,  from  Geba 
to  Beer-sheba ;  and  he  brake  down  the  high  places  of 
the  gates  that  were  at  the  entering  in  of  the  gate  of 

32),  probably  'mansions'  in  the  astronomical  sense.  Assyriologists 
are  not  agreed  as  to  the  reference  of  the  Assyrian  word  supposed 
to  answer  to  the  term  here  used  :  some  apply  it  to  the  signs  of  the 
Zodiac,  while  others  think  it  includes  a  larger  number  of  stars  or 
constellations  (see  KAT^,  p.  628). 

6.  graves  of  the  common  people.  While  the  upper  classes  had 
their  family  sepulchres  in  their  own  ground,  the  poor  were  buried 
in  a  common  grave3'ard  (cf.  Jer.  xxvi.  23). 

7.  On  the  sodomites,  see  i  Kings  xiv.  24 ;  cf,  Deut.  xxiii.  17. 
haufifings :  lit.  'houses,'  wiiich  gives  no  sense.     The  clause 

is  obscure  ;  but  the  best  reading  is  perhaps  that  of  LXX  (L) : 
'  tunics.* 

8.  The  high  places  were  abolished,  in  accordance  with  the 
fundamental  idea  of  the  Deuteronomic  legislation  (Deut.  xii. 
T  ff.,  &c.).  The  priests  who  officiated  at  these  sanctuaries  belonged 
to  the  tribe  of  Levi  Csee  Ezek.  xliv.  10,  12)  ;  and  are  regarded  by 
the  Deuteronomist  as  enjoying  the  full  status  of  the  priesthood. 
In  their  interest  it  was  provided  that  any  Levitical  priest  who 
chose  to  transfer  his  services  to  the  central  sanctuary  should  be 
admitted  to  the  temple  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  his  brethren 
who  ministered  there  (Deut.  xviii.  6-8\  Although  this  regulation 
could  not  be  strictly  enforced  (see  verse  9),  it  explains  Josiah's 
motive  in  bringing  'all  the  priests  out  of  the  cities  of  Judah' (5c.  to 
Jerusalem). 

from  Geba  to  Beer-sheba,  the  north  and  south  limits  of  the 
kingdom.     On  the  situation  of  Geba  see  i  Kings  xv.  22. 

For  high  places  of  the  gates,  most  moderns  read,  '  high  places 
{or,  house)  of  the  satyrs'  (changing  she'arhn  to  se'iiim).  The 
'  satyrs '  (or  field-devils)  were  goat-shaped  demons  to  whom 
sacrifice  was  offered,  as  we  see  from  Lev.  xvii.  7  ;  2  Chron. 
xi.  15. 

Ee  2 


420  II    KINGS  23.  9-11.     J 

Joshua  the  governor  of  the  city,  which  were  on  a  man's 

9  left  hand  at  the  gate  of  the  city.     Nevertheless  the  priests 

of  the  high  places  came  not  up  to  the  altar  of  the  Lord  in 

Jerusalem,  but  they  did  eat  unleavened  bread  among 

TO  their  brethren.  And  he  defiled  Topheth,  which  is  in 
the  valley  of  the  children  of  Hinnom,  that  no  man  might 
make  his  son  or  his  daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire  to 

II  Molech.     And  he  took  away  the  horses  that  the  kings  of 

After  on  a  man's  left  hand  read,  with  LXX  (L),  *as  he  enters 
the  gate,'  &c. 

9  refers  back  to  the  first  clause  of  verse  8.  The  meaning 
appears  to  be  that  the  priests  of  the  high  places  who  had  been 
brought  to  Jerusalem  were  denied  the  privilege  of  ministering 
at  the  altar,  though  they  were  permitted  to  share  the  temple  dues, 
and  were  recognized  as  brethren  of  the  temple  priests.  It  is 
hardly  fair  to  ascribe  this  deviation  from  the  Deuteronomic  law 
to  mere  professional  jealousy  ;  it  may  well  have  proved  impracti- 
cable to  admit  so  large  a  body  of  men  to  the  highest  offices  of  the 
priesthood.  On  unleavened  bread  as  the  portion  of  the  priests, 
see  Lev.  vi.  14-18  (cf.  Num.  xviii.  9),  As  a  statement  of  the  general 
fact  that  the  Levites  shared  the  provision  of  the  priests  the  ex- 
pression is  certainly  peculiar ;  and  it  is  possible  that  there  is 
a  special  reference  to  the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread  (verses  21-23), 
when  the  provincial  Levites  may  have  been  first  acknowledged  as 
*  brethren '  of  the  Jerusalem  priests  (Benzinger). 

10.  the  valley  of  the  children  of  Kinnom  is  by  most  identi- 
fied with  the  IVddi  er-Rabdbt,  v^rest  and  south  of  Jerusalem  ; 
W.  R,  Smith,  however,  holds  that  it  is  the  Tyropoeon.  the  ravine 
just  below  the  temple  on  its  west  side  ;  and  Warren  thinks  it  was 
the  Kidron  valley  on  the  east.  Its  shortened  name  Ge-hinitom 
(Gehenna,  Matt.  v.  22)  became  amongst  the  Jews  and  Moslems 
a  title  of  the  place  of  future  torment,  because  of  the  horror  excited 
by  the  revolting  sacrifices  referred  to  in  this  verse.  The  word 
Topheth  (properly  Tephath)  probably  means  a  fireplace  made  in 
the  primitive  fashion  by  digging  a  pit  in  the  ground  W.  R.  Smith, 
Rel.  of  Sem.  ^,  p.  377,  m.  2)  :  on  this  the  bodies  of  the  human 
victims  were  burned. 

11.  The  notice  of  the  horses  and  the  chariots  of  the  sun  is 
unique,  and  we  cannot  tell  when  or  by  whom  they  were  introduced. 
The  idea  was  no  doubt  borrowed  from  the  Babylonians,  amongst 
whom  the  sun-god  Shamash  (^like  the  Helios  of  the  Greeks)  was 
represented  as  riding  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  horses  (Jensen, 
Kosmologie,  pp.  108,  109). 


II    KINGS  23.  12-15.     J  421 

Judah  had  given  to  the  sun,  at  the  entering  in  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  by  the  chamber  of  Nathan-melech 
the  chamberlain,  which  was  in  the  precincts;  and  he 
burned  the  chariots  of  the  sun  with  fire.  And  the  altars  1 2 
that  were  on  the  roof  of  the  upper  chamber  of  Ahaz, 
which  the  kings  of  Judah  had  made,  and  the  altars  which 
Manasseh  had  made  in  the  two  courts  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord,  did  the  king  break  down,  and  beat  them 
down  from  thence,  and  cast  the  dust  of  them  into  the 
brook  Kidron.  And  the  high  places  that  were  before  13 
Jerusalem,  which  were  on  the  right  hand  of  the  mount 
of  corruption,  which  Solomon  the  king  of  Israel  had 
builded  for  Ashtoreth  the  abomination  of  the  Zidonians, 
and  for  Chemosh  the  abomination  of  Moab,  and  for 
Milcom  the  abomination  of  the  children  of  Ammon,  did 
the  king  defile.  And  he  brake  in  pieces  the  pillars,  and  14 
cut  down  the  Asherim,  and  filled  their  places  with  the 
bones  of  men.     Moreover  the  altar  that  was  at  Beth-el,  15 

For  given  to  tlie  sim  read  *  set  up  for  the  sun.' 
the  precincts  {pandj'im) :  probably  the  same  word  as  parbdr 
in  I  Chron.  xxvi.  18,  in  which  case  it  is  the  name  of  a  western 
annexe  to  the  temple  building. 

12.  of  the  upper  chamber  of  Ahaz.  The  ungrammatical 
construction  proves  the  clause  to  be  a  gloss  :  hence  the  roof  is  in 
all  probability  that  of  the  temple.  The  custom  of  sacrificing  on 
the  roofs  of  private  houses  is  referred  to  in  Jer.  xix.  13,  xxxii.  29 ; 
and  was  a  common  feature  of  Babylonian  worship  {KAT^,  p.  601). 
It  has  been  conjectured  that  Ahaz  had  built  an  upper  chamber  on 
the  temple,  near  to  these  altars  on  the  roof  (Benzinger,  Kittel). 
On  the  altars  of  Manasseh,  see  xxi.  5.  There  seems  to  be  some 
error  of  text  in  the  verb  for  heat  down  (see  marg.). 

13.  See  on  i  Kings  xi.  7. 

before  means  *■  to  the  east  of,'  and  on  the  rig-ht  hand,  *  to  the 
south.' 

the  xnonnt  of  corruption :  strictly,  *  the  mount  of  the 
destroyer'  (see  marg.).  It  is  probably  what  is  now  known  as 
the  *  Mount  of  Offence'  {JebelBatn  elHawci),  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  ridge  of  Olivet,  across  the  Kidron  from  Jerusalem. 

15.  Josiah's  reforming  activity  extended  beyond  the  boundary 


422  II    KINGS  23.  i6-i8.     JZ 

and  the  high  place  which  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 
who  made  Israel  to  sin,  had  made,  even  that  altar  and 
the  high  place  he  brake  down ;  and  he  burned  the  high 
place  and  stamped  it  small  to  powder,  and  burned  the 
Asherah.  [Z]  And  as  Josiah  turned  himself,  he  spied 
the  sepulchres  that  were  there  in  the  mount ;  and  he 
sent,  and  took  the  bones  out  of  the  sepulchres,  and 
burned  them  upon  the  altar,  and  defiled  it,  according  to 
the  word  of  the  Lord  which  the  man  of  God  proclaimed, 
who  proclaimed  these  things.  Then  he  said.  What 
monument  is  that  which  I  see  ?  And  the  men  of  the  city 
told  him,  It  is  the  sepulchre  of  the  man  of  God,  which 
came  from  Judah,  and  proclaimed  these  things  that  thou 
hast  done  against  the  altar  of  Beth-el.     And  he  said.  Let 

of  his  own  kingdom  lo  Beth-el,  the  chief  seat  of  Jeroboam's  calf- 
worship.  Tfie  fact  probably  indicates  some  relaxation  of  central 
control  from  Nineveh.  The  second  half  of  tlie  verse  is  corrupt. 
For  and  he  tourned  the  hig-h  place  read,  with  LXX,  'and  he 
brake  in  pieces  the  stones  thereof  ;  a  high  place  could  not  be 
destroyed  by  burning.  The  two  remaining  clauses  ought  perhaps 
to  be  reversed,  as  in  verse  6. 

xxiii.  16-20.  Josiah  in  Samaria.  The  passage  is  a  late  addition 
to  the  narrative,  based  on  i  Kings  xiii.  That  it  was  not  written 
by  the  author  of  verse  15  appears  from  the  fact  that  the  altar, 
whose  destruction  is  there  described,  is  here  mentioned  as  still 
existing.  It  is  a  relief  to  think  that  Josiah's  reformation  may 
not  have  been  really  stained  by  such  atrocities  as  are  recorded  in 
verse  20. 

16.  who  proclaimed  these  things.  There  is  an  obvious 
omission  before  this  clause,  which  we  can  supply  from  the  LXX. 
Read  :  *  according  to  the  word  of  Yahweh  which  the  man  of  God 
proclaimed  ivhen  Jeroboam  stood  at  the  Feast  upon  the  altar 
(see  I  Kings  xiii.  i).  And  turning  round  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  to 
the  grave  of  the  man  of  God  who  proclaimed  these  things.' 

17.  monument.  The  word  is  used  in  Ezek.  xxxix,  15  of 
a  temporary  mark  set  up  over  a  fragment  of  a  skeleton  till  it  should 
be  buried.  The  present  passage  is  perhaps  the  only  allusion  in 
the  O.  T.  to  gravestones  in  the  proper  sense.  The  Pillar  of 
Racliels  grave  (Gen.  xxxv.  20)  was  a  mazzeba,  with  religious 
significance. 


II    KINGS  23.  19-23.     Z  J  423 

him  be;  let  no  man  move  his  bones.  So  they  let  his 
bones  alone,  with  the  bones  of  the  prophet  that  came 
out  of  Samaria.  And  all  the  houses  also  of  the  high  19 
places  that  were  in  the  cities  of  Samaria,  which  the  kings 
of  Israel  had  made  to  provoke  the  Lord  to  anger,  Josiah 
took  away,  and  did  to  them  according  to  all  the  acts  that 
he  had  done  in  Beth-el.  And  he  slew  all  the  priests  of  20 
the  high  places  that  were  there,  upon  the  altars,  and 
burned  men's  bones  upon  them ;  and  he  returned  to 
Jerusalem. 

[J]  And  the  king  commanded  all  the  people,  saying,  21 
Keep  the  passover  unto  the  Lord  your  God,  as  it  is 
written  in  this  book  of  the  covenant.     Surely  there  was  22 
not  kept  such  a  passover  from  the  days  of  the  judges  that 
judged  Israel,  nor  in  all  the  days  of  the  kings  of  Israel, 
nor  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ;  but  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  23 

18.  Samaria  must  here  (and  in  verse  19)  be  the  province  ;  see 
I  Kings  xiii.  32. 

20.  Cf.  I  Kings  xiii.  2,  32. 

xxiii.  21-27.  Celebration  of  the  Passover,  &ic.  A  striking  feature 
of  the  reformation  was  the  observance  of  the  passover  in  the 
manner  prescribed  by  the  newly-discovered  law-book.  The 
Deuteronomic  law  of  the  passover  is  found  in  Deut.  xvi.  1-8,  and 
differs  in  several  important  particulars  from  that  of  the  Priestly 
Code  (Exod.  xii).  But  the  innovation  to  which  verse  22  calls 
attention  was  undoubtedly  the  fact  of  its  being  held  at  the  central 
sanctuary.  Formerly  it  had  been  a  household  feast  which  could 
be  observed  any  where  throughout  the  country  (Deut.  xvi.  5)  ;  now 
for  the  first  time  the  people  were  obliged  to  come  up  to  Jerusalem 
for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  it.  The  narrative  closes  with  the 
mention  of  some  minor  measures  of  reform  (veise  24)  ;  verse  25 
seems  to  be  redactional  ;  and  verses  26,  27  are  an  addition  by  the 
younger  editor,  explaining  why  the  reform  proved  ineffectual. 

22.  there  was  not  kept  .  .  .:  lit.  'it  was  not  done  like  this 
passover ' ;    see  above. 

23.  in  the  eighteenth  year :  in  the  same  year,  therefore,  in 
which  the  law  was  discovered.  This  is,  of  course,  possible  only 
if  the  year  commenced  in  autumii,  according  to  the  old  Hebrew 


424  II    KINGS  23.  24-28.     JDPD^D 

king  Josiah  was  this  passover  kept  to  the  Lord  in  Jeru- 

24  salem.  Moreover  them  that  had  familiar  spirits,  and  the 
Avizards,  and  the  teraphim,  and  the  idols,  and  all  the 
abominations  that  were  spied  in  the  land  of  Judah  and 
in  Jerusalem,  did  Josiah  put  away,  that  he  might  confirm 
the  words  of  the  law  which  were  written  in  the  book  that 
Hilkiah   the  priest  found   in   the  house  of  the  Lord. 

25  [D?]  And  like  unto  him  was  there  no  king  before  him, 
that  turned  to  the  Lord  with  all  his  heart,  and  with  all 
his  soul,  and  with  all  his  might,  according  to  all  the  law 
of  Moses ;   neither  after  him  arose  there  any  like  him. 

26  [D-]  Notwithstanding  the  Lord  turned  not  from  the  fierce- 
ness of  his  great  wrath,  w^herewath  his  anger  was  kindled 
against   Judah,    because   of   all    the   provocations    that 

27  Manasseh  had  provoked  him  withal.  And  the  Lord 
said,  I  will  remove  Judah  also  out  of  my  sight,  as  I  have 
removed  Israel,  and  I  will  cast  off  this  city  which  I  have 
chosen,  even  Jerusalem,  and  the  house  of  which  I  said, 

28  My  name  shall  be  there.  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts 
of  Josiah,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the 

calendar.  And  in  any  case  the  statement  of  the  LXX  in  xxiii.  3, 
that  the  discovery  was  made  in  the  eighth  month,  must  be 
incorrect. 

24.  Cf.  xxi.  6  and  Deut.  xviii.  9-14. 

teraphim  (not  mentioned  in  D:ut.)  were  images  of  house- 
hold deities  (see  Gen.  xxxi.  198".;  Judges  xvii.  f. ;  i  Sam.  xix. 
13  ff.,  &c.). 

25.  the  law  of  Moses.     See  introductory  note,  p.  411. 
neither  after  him  .  .  .    These  A\'ords  could  not  have  been 

written  earlier  than  the  captivity  of  Judah. 

26.  27.  See  xxi.  10-15. 

xxiii.  28-30.  Conclusion  :  Death  of  Josiah.  Josiah  fell  in  battle 
with  Necho  II  of  Egypt  at  Megiddo.  The  date  was  probably 
608  B.  c.  The  Assyrian  Empire,  threatened  by  a  coalition  of  the 
Chaldeans  and  Medes,  was  tottering  to  its  fall  ;  and  Necho 
resolved  to  seize  the  opportunity  of  establishing  the  Egyptian 
power  over  the  Syrian  provinces.    The  moti\'c  of  Josiah 's  ill-fated 


II    KINGS    23.  29-32.     D  KJ  D  425 

book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah?  |KJ]  In  his  29 
days  Pharaoh-necoh  king  of  Egypt  went  up  against  the 
king  of  Assyria  to  the  river  Euphrates :  and  king  Josiah 
went  against  him ;  and  he  slew  him  at  Megiddo,  when 
he  had  seen  him.  And  his  servants  carried  him  in  a  30 
chariot  dead  from  Megiddo,  and  brought  him  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  buried  him  in  his  own  sepulchre.  And  the 
people  of  the  land  took  Jehoahaz  the  son  of  Josiah,  and 
anointed  him,  and  made  him  king  in  his  father's  stead. 

[D]  Jehoahaz  was  twenty  and  three  years  old  when  31 
he  began  to  reign;   and  he   reigned  three   months  in 
Jerusalem  :    and  his  mother's   name  was   Hamutal  the 
daughter  of  Jeremiah  of  Libnah.     And  he  did  that  which  32 


enterprise  is  nowhere  indicated.  It  is  possible  he  may  have 
merely  furnished  a  contingent  to  an  Assyrian  army  sent  to  oppose 
the  Egyptians.  But  that  is  not  likely.  It  is  much  more  probable 
(especially  in  the  light  of  2  Chron.  xxxv.  20  ff.)  that  he  fought  for 
his  own  hand,  and  cherished  the  ambition  of  restoring  the  ancient 
independence  of  the  Hebrew  monarchy.  A  notice  of  the  battle  is 
found  in  Herod,  ii.  159. 

29.  Pharaoh-necolx  is  Necho  II,  the  son  of  Psammetichus,  and 
the  second  king  of  the  twenty-sixth  d3'nasty.  He  reigned  from 
609  to  594. 

at  Megiddo.  See  on  i  Kings  iv.  12.  Herodotus  places  the 
battle  at  Magdolos  (Migdol) ;  but  this  is  probably  a  mistake  on  the 
part  of  the  Greek  historian. 

wlien  he  had  seen  him.  Apparently,  '  as  soon  as  he  had 
confronted  him  in  battle ' ;  cf.  the  expression  in  xiv.  8. 

30.  Jehoahaz  was  a  younger  son  of  Josiah  (cf.  verse  31  with 
verse  36),  and  therefore  not  the  natural  heir  to  the  throne.  His 
election  by  the  people  might  be  due  to  his  being  in  sympathy  with 
the  national  or  anti-Egyptian  policy  of  his  father  :  see  below. 

xxiii.  31-35.     The  Reign  of  Jehoahaz.     (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  1-4.) 

Continuing  verse  30,  the  annalistic  passage,  verses  32-35> 
narrates  how,  three  months  after  the  battle  of  Megiddo,  Necho 
summoned  the  young  king  of  Judah  to  his  head  quarters  at  Riblah 
on  the  Orontes,  put  him  in  chains,  and  raised  an  older  son  of 
Josiah  to  the  throne.     The  new  king,  whose  name  was  changed 


426  II  KINGS  23.  33-35-     D  KJ 

was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that 

33  his  fathers  had  done.  [KJ]  And  Pharaoh-necoh  put 
him  in  bands  at  Riblah  in  the  land  of  Hamath,  that  he 
might  not  reign  in  Jerusalem ;  and  put  the  land  to  a 
tribute  of  an  hundred  talents  of  silver,  and  a  talent  of 

34  gold.  And  Pharaoh-necoh  made  Eliakim  the  son  of 
Josiah  king  in  the  room  of  Josiah  his  father,  and  changed 
his  name  to  Jehoiakim  :    but  he  took  Jehoahaz  away ; 

35  and  he  came  to  Egypt,  and  died  there.  And  Jehoiakim 
gave  the  silver  and  the  gold  to  Pharaoh ;  but  he  taxed 
the  land  to  give  the  money  according  to  the  command- 
ment of  Pharaoh  :  he  exacted  the  silver  and  the  gold  of 
the  people  of  the  land,  of  every  one  according  to  his 
taxation,  to  give  it  unto  Pharaoh-necoh. 

to  Jehoiakim,  accepted  the  Egyptian  lordship,  and  taxed  his 
subjects  heavily  to  raise  the  tribute  imposed  by  Necho  on  the 
country.  The  fate  of  Jehoahaz,  who  was  taken  a  prisoner  to 
Egypt  and  died  there,  is  the  theme  of  a  striking  elegy  in  ch.  xix 
of  Ezekiel. 

33  appears  the  immediate  continuation  of  verse  30,  from  which 
it  is  separated  by  the  compiler's  introductory  formula. 

Siblah  (still  bearing  the  name)  is  in  the  Orontes  valley,  about 
fifty  miles  south  of  Hamath.  Its  strategically  important  position 
made  it  a  suitable  resting-place  for  an  army  operating  either  from 
the  south  against  Assyria  (as  here)  or  from  the  north  against 
Israel  (as  in  xxv.  21). 

put  the  land  to  a  tribute  :  better,  '  imposed  an  indemnity  on 
the  land.' 

For  a  talent  of  gold  LXX  (L)  reads  '  ten  talents,'  which  is 
more  likely  to  be  correct. 

34.  Eliakim  (*  God  establishes')  and  Jehoiakim  ('Yahweh 
establishes')  being  practically  identical,  the  change  of  name  can 
signify  nothing  in  itself.  It  is  simply  a  mark  of  vassalage  (cf. 
xxiv.  17). 

35.  The  method  of  raising  the  fine  must  have  resembled  that 
adopted  by  Menahem  of  Israel  (xv.  20),  but  the  description  is 
obscure.  The  last  clause  might  be  rendered,  '  each  man  according 
to  his  taxation  extorted  the  silver  and  the  gold  from  the  common 
people,'  &c.  The  meaning  would  then  be  that  the  king  assessed 
the  landed  proprietors  according  to  their  ability,  and  that  these  in 


II    KINGS  23.  36—21.  I.     DKJ  427 

[D]  Jehoiakim  was  twenty  and  five  years  old  when  he  36 
began  to  reign  ;  and  he  reigned  eleven  years  in  Jerusalem  : 
and  his  mother's  name  was  Zebidah  the  daughter  of  Pe- 
daiah  of  Rumah.     And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  37 
sight  of  the   Lord,   according  to  all   that   his   fathers 
had  done.     [KJ]  In  his  days  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  24 
Babylon  came  up,  and  Jehoiakim  became  his  servant 

their  turn  squeezed  the  money  out  of  their  tenants  and  retainers. 
But  we  cannot  be  certain  that  this  is  the  sense. 

xxiii.  36— xxiv.  7.  The  Reign  of  Jehoiakim.  (2  Chron.  xxxvi. 
5-8.) 

Early  in  Jehoiakim's  reign  the  fall  of  Nineveh  (between  608 
and  606)  brought  about  a  new  distribution  of  power  in  Western 
Asia.  In  the  partition  of  the  Assyrian  Empire,  which  followed 
that  event,  the  western  half  fell  to  Nabopolassar,  the  founder  of  the 
neo-Chaldean  dynasty  in  Babylon  (625-605).  We  have  seen  that 
Necho  of  Egypt  had  already  seized  the  provinces  west  of  the 
Euphrates  ;  and  accordingly  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Nabopolassar 
was  to  expel  the  Egyptians  from  Syria.  This  task  he  entrusted 
to  his  son  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  defeated  Necho  in  the  decisive 
battle  of  Carchemish  (Jer.  xlvi.  2)  in  the  beginning  of  605.  Soon 
after  the  battle  Nebuchadnezzar  was  recalled  to  Babylon  by  the 
news  of  his  father's  death  ;  but  the  Egyptian  resistance  had  been 
utterly  broken,  and  the  conquest  of  Syria  was  virtually  complete. 
We  read  that  Jehoiakim  willingly  transferred  his  allegiance  to  the 
king  of  Babylon,  and  that  after  three  years  he  rebelled,  and  was  in 
consequence  harassed  b^'  bands  of  foreign  troops  till  the  close  of 
his  reign.  The  dates  of  these  events  are  uncertain.  If  the  sub- 
mission took  place  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Carchemish,  the 
revolt  must  have  occurred  about  602,  and  five  j-ears  would  have 
elapsed  before  a  Babylonian  army  marched  against  Jerusalem. 
We  know  of  no  reason  why  Nebuchadnezzar  should  have  delayed 
so  long  ;  and  it  is  perhaps  easier  to  assume  that  the  three  years' 
service  are  reckoned  from  a  settlement  of  the  affairs  of  Syria  some 
years  subsequent  to  605,  and  that  the  rebellion  was  near  the  end 
of  Jehoiakim's  reign. 

36,  compared  with  31,  shows  that  Jehoiakim  was  only  a  half- 
brother  of  Jehoahaz,  and  his  senior  by  two  years. 

xxiv.  1.  In  his  days:  resuming  the  extracts  from  the  chronicle; 
see  introductory  note  above.  According  to  Jer.  xxv.  i  and  xlvi. 
2  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim  coincides  with  the  first  year  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  and  the  battle  of  Carchemish. 


428  II    KINGS  24.  2-6.     KJ  D^  D 

three  years  :  then  he  turned  and  rebelled  against  him. 
a  [D^]  And  the  Lord  sent  against  him  bands  of  the 
Chaldeans,  and  bands  of  the  Syrians,  and  bands  of  the 
Moabites,  and  bands  of  the  children  of  Ammon,  and 
sent  them  against  Judah  to  destroy  it,  according  to  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  by  the  hand  of  his 

3  servants  the  prophets.  Surely  at  the  commandment  of 
the  Lord  came  this  upon  Judah,  to  remove  them  out  of 
his  sight,  for  the  sins  of  Manasseh,  according  to  all  that  he 

4  did ;  and  also  for  the  innocent  blood  that  he  shed ;  for 
he  filled  Jerusalem  with  innocent  blood  :   and  the  Lord 

5  would  not  pardon.  [D]  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Jehoiakim,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in 

6  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?    So 

2.  These  predatory  bands  were  doubtless  employed  b}'  Nebu- 
chadnezzar to  keep  Jehoiakim  in  play  till  a  regular  army  could  be 
sent  against  him.  The  Chaldeans  would  be  drawn  from  the 
Babylonian  garrisons  stationed  in  Syria  ;  and  instead  of  Syrians 
{'Aram)  we  shouJd  probably  read  '  Edomites  '  {'Edom).  To  the 
nations  here  mentioned  a  parallel  preserved  in  the  LXX  of 
2  Chron.  xxxvi.  5  adds  the  Samaritans  ;  so  that  Judah  must  have 
been  completely  isolated  in  its  defection  from  the  Chaldean 
Empire.  The  passage  referred  to  says  further  that  the  raiders 
were  compelled  to  withdraw  '  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord 
by  the  hands  of  his  servants  the  prophets.'  Klostermann  has 
directed  attention  to  that  reading  as  giving  a  fuller  force  to  the 
particle  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  verse,  which  should  be 
rendered  '  Hovvbeit.'  If  it  were  correct  the  situation  would 
present  a  striking  similarity  to  the  Syro-Ephraimitic  war  in  the 
time  of  Ahaz,  when  Isaiah  prophesied  a  collapse  of  the  nearer 
peril,  but  pointed  to  the  graver  danger  of  the  Assyrian  invasion 
behind  it. 

3,  4  are  from  the  hand  of  the  younger  redactor;  cf.  xxiii.  26  f. 
Surely :  or,  '  Howbeit' :  see  on  verse  2. 

at  the  commandment,  &c.  Some  prefer  to  read  with  the 
LXX,  as  in  verse  20  :  '  because  of  the  anger  of  Yahweh  it  befell 
Judah,'  &c. 

5.  The  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  is  here 
referred  to  for  the  last  time  ;  and  with  this  we  lose  the  last  sure 
trace  of  the  original  compiler  of  Kings,  who  is  supposed  to  have 


II    KINGS  24.  7-II.     DKJD^  429 

Jehoiakim  slept  with  his  fathers  :  and  Jehoiachin  his  son 
reigned  in  his  stead.     [KJ]  And  the  king  of  Egypt  came  7 
not  again  any  more  out  of  his  land :   for  the  king  of 
Babylon  had  taken,  from  the  brook  of  Egypt  unto  the 
river  Euphrates,  all  that  pertained  to  the  king  of  Egypt. 

[D'^]  Jehoiachin  was  eighteen  years  old  when  he  began  8 
to  reign  ;  and  he  reigned  in  Jerusalem  three  months  :  and 
his  mother's  name  was  Nehushta  the  daughter  of  Elnathan 
of  Jerusalem.     And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  9 
sight  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that  his  father  had 
done.     At  that  time   the   servants  of  Nebuchadnezzar  10 
king  of  Babylon  came  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  city  was 
besieged.     And  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon  came  n 

finished  his  work  some  time  before  the  Captivity.  We  cannot 
determine  the  exact  point  at  which  he  laid  down  his  pen  ;  but  it 
is  probable  that  most  of  what  follows  was  added  during  the  Captivity 
by  the  younger  editor. 

6.  LXX  (L)  adds  the  statement,  which  may  very  well  be 
correct,  that  he  '  was  buried  in  the  garden  of  Uzza  with  his 
father.'     See  on  xxi.  18. 

7.  See  introductory  note  above,  p.  427. 

xxiv.  8-17.  Jehoiachin  and  the  First  Captivity  ofjttdah.  (2  Chron, 
xxxvi.  9,  10.) 

Jehoiakim  had  died  just  in  time  to  escape  the  vengeance  of 
Nebuchadnezzar.  Soon  after  the  accession  of  his  son  Jehoiachin, 
a  Babylonian  army  appeared  before  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  and 
after  a  short  siege  the  city  surrendered.  The  king  and  his 
courtiers,  with  the  elite  of  the  upper  classes,  the  men  of  war  and 
the  skilled  artisans,  were  taken  captive  to  Babylon  ;  and  the 
government  of  the  enfeebled  kingdom  was  handed  over  to  a  son 
of  Josiah,  from  whom  Nebuchadnezzar  exacted  a  solemn  oath  of 
allegiance  (Ezek.  xvii.  13).  This  first  deportation  of  Jews  to 
Babylon  took  place  in  the  year  598  or  597  (see  below).  Amongst 
the  exiles  was  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  who  dates  the  Captivity  from 
this  event  Ezek.  i.  2,  &c.),  and  regards  it  as  the  real  end  of  the 
Judaean  state  and  monarchy. 

8.  three  months:  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  9  adds  'and  ten  days.' 

11.  The  siege  appears  to  have  alread}'  commenced  when 
Nebuchadnezzar  arrived  in  person. 


430  II    KINGS  24.  12-15.     0^702 

12  unto  the  city,  while  his  servants  were  besieging  it;  and 
Jehoiachin  the  king  of  Judah  went  out  to  the  king  of 
Babylon,  he,  and  his  mother,  and  his  servants,  and  his 
princes,  and  his  officers  :  and  the  king  of  Babylon  took 

13  him  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign.  [?]  And  he  carried 
out  thence  all  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house,  and  cut  in  pieces 
all  the  vessels  of  gold  which  Solomon  king  of  Israel  had 
made  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  as  the  Lord  had  said. 

14  And  he  carried  away  all  Jerusalem,  and  all  the  princes, 
and  all  the  mighty  men  of  valour,  even  ten  thousand 
captives,  and  all  the  craftsmen  and  the  smiths;  none 
remained,  save  the  poorest  sort  of  the  people  of  the  land. 

15  [D'^J  And  he  carried  away  Jehoiachin  to  Babylon ;  and 

12.  went  out:  the  usual  phrase  for  surrender  ;  see  xviii.  31. 
the  eigfhth  year  of  his  (Nebuchadnezzar's)  reigrn  is  really 

597  B.  c,  604  being  the  first  complete  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
This,  however,  does  not  agree  with  xxv.  27.  according  to  which 
the  deportation  of  Jehoiachin  must  have  happened  in  598.  It  is 
possible  that  both  in  this  verse  and  in  xxv.  8,  605  is  reckoned  the 
first  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar  (in  accordance  with  the  usual  method 
of  the  Hebrew  chronologist),  so  that  the  first  Captivity  fell  in  598 
and  the  second  in  587.  The  discrepancy  of  one  year  at  all  events 
exists,  and  in  Jer.  lii.  28  the  date  of  the  first  Captivity  is  given  as 
the  seventh  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

13,  14  are  wrongly  inserted  here  as  a  duplicate  to  verses  15, 
16,  which  form  the  original  sequel  to  verse  12.  Thai  3.  partial 
spoliation  of  the  temple  took  place  in  598  we  know  from  Jer. 
xxvii.  18  f. ;  but  it  cannot  have  been  so  complete  as  is  here 
suggested  (see  xxv,  15  ff*.)  Neither  was 'all  Jerusalem  '  carried 
away  to  Babylon  on  this  occasion.  It  has  been  supposed  by 
Stade  that  the  two  verses  are  a  fragment  taken  from  an  account 
of  the  second  Captivity  under  Zedekiah. 

13.  thence  has  no  antecedent  in  the  preceding  narrative ; 
unless,  with  LXX  (L),  we  supply  the  sentence:  'And  the  king 
of  Babylon  entered  into  the  city.' 

14.  even  ten  thousand  captives.  It  is  obviously  difficult  to 
reconcile  the  number  with  the  data  of  verse  16. 

the  poorest  sort,  &c.     This  also  agrees  better  with  the  view 
that  the  second  Captivity  is  referred  to. 


II    KINGS  24.   16-18.     D''  431 

the  king's  mother,  and  the  king's  wives,  and  his  officers, 
and  the  chief  men  of  the  land,  carried  he  into  captivity 
from  Jerusalem  to  Babylon.     And  all  the  men  of  might,  16 
even  seven  thousand,  and  the  craftsmen  and  the  smiths 
a  thousand,  all  of  them  strong  and  apt  for  war,  even  them 
the  king  of  Babylon  brought  captive  to  Babylon.     And  17 
the  king  of  Babylon  made  Mattaniah  his  father's  brother 
king  in  his  stead,  and  changed  his  name  to  Zedekiah. 
Zedekiah  was  twenty  and  one  years  old  when  he  began  18 

15.  the  kiugr's  mother:  the  queen  mother,  as  she  is  expressly 
called  in  Jer.  xxix.  2. 

the  chief  men  of  the  laud :  the  foremost,  or  leading  men  ; 
cf.  Ezek.  xvii.  13. 

16.  men  of  mig-ht :  probably,  in  this  instance,  *  men  of  sub- 
stance ' ;  see  on  i  Kings  i.  42. 

strong:  lit.  'heroes, 'but  probably  here  with  the  weakened  sense 
of  *  men  liable  to  military  service.'  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that 
all  the  artisans  of  Jerusalem  were  '  men  of  independent  means ' 
(so  Kittel).  The  object  of  the  king  of  Babylon  was  plainly  to 
remove  all  the  elements  of  strength  from  the  state,  and  to  leave  it 
incapable  of  further  resistance.  The  event  proved  that  he  had 
greatly  underrated  the  courage  and  patriotism  of  the  race  with 
which  he  had  to  deal. 

17.  On  the  change  of  name,  see  xxiii.  34. 

xxiv.  18  —XXV.  21.  Zedekiah  and  the  Final  Captivity.  (2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  11-23.) 

Of  the  reign  of  the  last  king  of  Judah  nothing  is  here  recorded 
save  the  events  of  the  siege  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  From 
the  Book  of  Jeremiah  (xxvii  f.)  we  learn  that  as  early  as  the  fourth 
year  of  his  reign  Zedekiah  was  implicated  in  treasonable  negotia- 
tions with  some  of  the  neighbouring  states;  and  it  is  highly  probable 
that  a  journey  which  he  made  to  Babylon  in  the  same  year  (Jer.  li. 
59)  was  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  his  conduct  to 
Nebuchadnezzar.  Later,  however,  he  gave  way  to  the  influence 
of  the  war-party,  backed  by  Egyptian  intrigue,  and  openly  revolted. 
Jerusalem  was  speedily  invested  by  a  Chaldean  army,  but  held  out 
stubbornly  for  a  year  and  a  half,  when  a  breach  was  made  in  the 
wall  and  the  city  was  no  longer  defensible.  The  king  and  the 
army  broke  through  the  lines  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  sought  to  save 
themselves  by  flight  ;  but  Zedekiah  was  overtaken  near  Jericho, 
taken  before  Nebuchadnezzar  at  Riblah,  and  then  sent  in  fetters 
to  Babylon.     A  month  later  (evidently  in  consequence  of  orders 


432  11    KINGS  24.  19—25.  3.     D^ 

to  reign ;  and  he  reigned  eleven  years  in  Jerusalem : 
and  his  mother's  name  was  Hamutal  the  daughter  of 

19  Jeremiah  of  Libnah.  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that  Jehoiakim 

20  had  done.  For  through  the  anger  of  the  Lord  did  it 
come  to  pass  in  Jerusalem  and  Judah,  until  he  had  cast 
them   out  from    his   presence :    and    Zedekiah  rebelled 

25  against  the  king  of  Babylon.  And  it  came  to  pass  in 
the  ninth  year  of  his  reign,  in  the  tenth  month,  in  the 
tenth  day  of  the  month,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of 
Babylon  came,  he  and  all  his  army,  against  Jerusalem, 
and  encamped  against  it ;  and  they  built  forts  against  it 

2  round  about.     So  the  city  was  besieged  unto  the  eleventh 

3  year  of  king  Zedekiah.     On  the  ninth  day  of  the  fourth 

issued  by  Nebuchadnezzar  from  Riblah'  Jerusalem  was  razed  to 
the  ground  by  the  Chaldean  officer  in  charge  of  the  operations, 
the  bulk  of  the  population  were  taken  captive  to  Babylon,  while 
about  seventy  of  the  leading  men  were  sent  to  Riblah  to  be  exe- 
cuted. These  events  took  place  in  587  or  586.  It  is  impossible 
to  say  whether  the  narrative  was  taken  from  an  independent 
source,  or  written  by  the  (younger)  editor  himself.  Tlie  parallel 
accounts  in  Jer.  xxxix.  i,  2,  4-10  and  ch.  Hi  are  probably  extracted 
from  the  Book  of  Kings,  though  they  have  frequently  preserved 
a  purer  text. 

18.  Hanmtal :  as  xxiii.  31.  Zedekiah,  therefore,  was  a  full 
brother  of  Jehoahaz,  but  not  of  Jehoiakim  (xxiii.  36^ 

20.  See  on  verse  3. 

Por  refers  to  the  wickedness  of  Zedekiah's  reign  ;  the  per- 
sistence of  the  king  in  the  evil  courses  of  Jehoiakim  was  itself 
a  presage  of  judgement,  and  a  proof  of  Yahweh's  displeasure  with 
the  nation. 

XXV.  1.  The  numbering  of  the  months  was  a  late  usage  intro- 
duced with  the  Babj'lonian  calendar,  in  which  the  beginning  of  the 
year  was  reckoned  from  the  spring  season.  Hence  the  investment 
of  the  city  commenced  in  the  month  of  January,  588  (or  587). 

forts.  The  meaning  of  the  Hcb.  adyak  is  uncertain  ;  possibly 
a  wall  of  circumvallation  (siege-wair. 

3.  Read  :  '  In  the  fourth  month,  on  the  ninth  day  of  the  month.' 
The  opening  words  have  been  dropped  in  the  Hebrew,  and  must 


II    KINGS  25.  4-7.     D^^  433 

month  the  famine  was  sore  in  the  city,  so  that  there  was 
no  bread  for  the  people  of  the  land.     Then  a  breach  was  4 
made  in  the  city,  and  all  the  men  of  wdLifled  by  night  by 
the  way  of  the  gate  between  the  two  walls,  which  was  by 
the  king's  garden :  (now  the  Chaldeans  were  against  the 
city  round  about :)  and  the  king  went  by  the  way  of  the 
Arabah.     But  the  army  of  the  Chaldeans  pursued  after  5 
the  king,  and  overtook  him  in  the  plains  of  Jericho  :  and 
all  his  army  was  scattered  from  him.     Then  they  took  6 
the  king,  and  carried  him  up  unto  the  king  of  Babylon 
to  Riblah ;  and  they  gave  judgement  upon  him.     And  7 


be  restored  as  in  Jer.   Hi,  6  (xxxix.  2).     The  date  is  July,  587 
(?  586). 

the  famine  was  sore  :  see  Jer.  xxxvii.  21,  xxxviii.  9. 

4.  and  all  the  men  of  war.  The  text  is  again  defective,  as 
a  comparison  with  Jer.  xxxix.  4  and  Hi.  7  shows.  We  may  read  : 
'and  when  the  king  and  aH  the  men  of  war  saw  it,  they  fled  and 
went  out  of  the  city  by  night,*  &c. 

between  the  two  walls  denotes  a  spot  on  the  south-east 
side  of  the  city  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tyropoeon  valley  (see  Isa.  xxii. 
ii).  The  expression  is  explained  in  two  ways:  (i;  It  is  supposed 
that  an  external  wall  had  been  thrown  out  from  the  main  fortifica- 
tions in  order  to  enclose  the  Pool  of  Siloani  and  protect  it  from  an 
enemy.  Isa.  xxii.  11,  however,  rather  suggests  the  opposite,  viz, 
that  the  '  two  walls '  were  in  existence  before  the  reservoir  be- 
tween them  was  made.  (2)  Another  view  is  that  the  west  wall  of 
the  eastern  hill  and  the  east  wall  of  the  western  hill  ran  parallel 
to  each-  other  for  some  distance  up  the  Tyropoeon,  and  that  the 
space  between  these  is  referred  to.  Such  a  spot  would  be 
suitable  for  deploying  the  troops  after  they  passed  through  the 
gate,  if  their  intention  was  to  fight  their  wa}'  through  the  Chaldean 
lines.  But  it  is  idle  to  discuss  the  question  till  more  is  known  of 
the  position  of  the  walls  of  ancient  Jerusalem. 

and  the  king  went  should  probably  be  '  and  they  went ' 
(as  Jer.  Hi.  7}. 

the  Arabah  :  the  Jordan  valley  ;  see  xiv.  25. 

5.  and  all  his  army  was  (read,  *  had  been  ';  scattered  :  not  by 
the  Chaldean  attack  ;  they  had  dispersed  on  reaching  the  open 
country. 

6.  Riblah.    See  xxiii.  33. 

For  they  gave  judgement  read  '  he  gave  .  .  .  ,'  as  Jer.  lii.  9. 

Ff 


434  II    KINGS  25.  8-12.     D» 

they  slew  the  sons  of  Zedekiah  before  his  eyes,  and  put 
out  the  eyes  of  Zedekiah,  and  bound  him  in  fetters,  and 
carried  him  to  Babylon. 

8  Now  in  the  fifth  month,  on  the  seventh  day  of  the 
month,  which  was  the  nineteenth  year  of  king  Ne- 
buchadnezzar, king  of  Babylon,  came  Nebuzaradan  the 
captain  of  the  guard,  a  servant  of  the  king  of  Babylon, 

9  unto  Jerusalem  :  and  he  burnt  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  king's  house ;  and  all  the  houses  of  Jerusalem, 

10  even  every  great  house,  burnt  he  with  fire.  And  all  the 
army  of  the  Chaldeans,  that  were  ivith  the  captain  of  the 
guard,  brake  down  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  round  about. 

11  And  the  residue  of  the  people  that  were  left  in  the  city, 
and  those  that  fell  away,  that  fell  to  the  king  of  Babylon, 
and  the  residue  of  the  multitude,  did  Nebuzaradan  the 

12  captain  of  the  guard  carry  away  captive.     But  the  captain 

7.  Putting  out  the  eyes  was  a  punishment  resorted  to  by  the 
Assyrians  in  dealing  with  rebellious  vassals. 

carried  him  to  Babylon.  Jer.  lii.  11  adds  :  'and  put  him  in 
prison  till  the  day  of  his  death.' 

8.  tlie  nineteentli  year.  Jer.  lii.  29  dates  the  event  in  the 
eighteenth  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar  (i.  e,  587);  on  the  discrepancy, 
see  above  on  xxiv.  12  and  below  on  verse  27.  The  delay  of  nearly 
a  month  from  the  capture  of  the  city  means  that  express  instructions 
from  Nebuchadnezzar  had  been  waited  for. 

9.  The  temple  and  palace  are  burned,  and  all  the  houses  of 
Jerusalem :  the  following  clause,  which  restricts  the  operation  to 
the  principal  houses,  must  be  an  interpolation. 

10.  The  walls  are  then  broken  down. 

11.  It  would  seem  that  the  entire  population  of  the  capital  was 
led  into  captivity,  and  of  the  rural  population  all  but  the  very 
poorest  (verse  12).  Ewald  points  out  that  it  is  nowhere  definitely 
asserted  that  the  captives  were  taken  to  Babylonia, 

that  fell  away :  lit.  'the  deserters  that  had  deserted'  during 
the  siege. 

the  residue  of  the  multitude  would  be  the  same  as  '  the 
residue  of  the  people '  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse.  But 
instead  of  '  multitude '  Jer.  lii.  15  reads  '  artificers  '  (R.  V.  marg.)  ; 
cf.  xxiv.  16. 


II    KINGS  25.  13-18.     D-?D^  435 

of  the  guard  left  of  the  poorest  of  the  land  to  be  vine- 
dressers and  husbandmen.     And  the  pillars  of  brass  that  13 
were  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  bases  and  the 
brasen  sea  that  were  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  did  the 
Chaldeans  break  in  pieces,  and  carried  the  brass  of  them 
to  Babylon.     And  the  pots,  and  the  shovels,  and  the  14 
snuffers,  and  the  spoons,  and  all  the  vessels  of  brass 
wherewith  they  ministered,  took  they  away.     And  the  15 
firepans,   and  the   basons ;   that  which  was  of  gold,   in 
gold,  and  that  which  was  of  silver,  in  silver,  the  captain 
of  the  guard  took  away.     [?]  The  two  pillars,  the  one  16 
sea,  and  the  bases,  which  Solomon  had  made  for  the 
house  of  the  Lord  ;  the  brass  of  all  these  vessels  was 
without   weight.      The    height   of   the   one    pillar   was  17 
eighteen  cubits,  and  a  chapiter  of  brass  was  upon  it : 
and  the  height  of  the  chapiter  was  three  cubits ;   with 
network   and   pomegranates   upon   the   chapiter    round 
about,  all  of  brass :  and  like  unto  these  had  the  second 
pillar  with  network.     [D-]  And  the  captain  of  the  guard  18 
took  Seraiah  the  chief  priest,  and  Zephaniah  the  second 

13-17.  The  larger  temple  utensils  were  broken  up  and  carried 
as  scrap-metal  to  Babylon.  Neither  the  enumeration  (verses  13-15) 
nor  the  description  (16,  17)  aims  at  being  exhaustive.  The  latter, 
however,  especially  in  verse  16,  has  been  curtailed  to  the  point  of 
obscurity.  The  full  text  is  given  in  Jer.  Hi.  21-23,  a  passage  to 
which  we  are  indebted  for  valuable  information  regarding  the 
workmanship  of  Solomon's  pillars  (see  on  r  Kings  vii.  15  ff.).  In 
verse  17  three  cubits  (the  height  of  the  chapiters)  must  be 
corrected  to  'five  cubits'  (as  Jer.  lii.  22;  i  Kings  vii.  16).  Ihe 
mention  of  the  twelve  brasen  oxen  in  Jeremiah  seems  at  variance 
with  xvi.  17,  which  implies  that  these  had  been  removed  by  Ahaz 
long  before.  Hence  it  is  possible  that  the  description  of  verses  16  f. 
(  -  Jer.  lii.  20-23)  has  been  excerpted  literally  from  an  ancient 
document  giving  an  account  of  the  temple  furniture. 

18-21.  A  number  of  the  leading  officials  and  other  citizens,  who 
had  remained  in  the  city,  are  apprehended  and  sent  to  Riblah, 
where  they  are  put  to  death  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 

F  f  2 


436  II   KINGS  25.  19-22.     D^ 

19  priest,  and  the  three  keepers  of  the  door :  and  out  of  the 
city  he  took  an  officer  that  was  set  over  the  men  of  war ; 
and  five  men  of  them  that  saw  the  king's  face,  which 
were  found  in  the  city ;  and  the  scribe,  the  captain  of 
the  host,  which  mustered  the  people  of  the  land ;  and 
threescore  men  of  the  people  of  the  land,  that  were  found 

20  in  the  city.  And  Nebuzaradan  the  captain  of  the  guard 
took  them,  and  brought  them  to  the  king  of  Babylon  to 

2  1  Riblah.  And  the  king  of  Babylon  smote  them,  and  put 
them  to  death  at  Riblah   in  the  land  of  Hamath.     So 

22  Judah  was  carried  away  captive  out  of  his  land.  And  as 
for  the  people  that  were  left  in  the  land  of  Judah,  whom 
Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon   had  left,   even  over 

18.  The  five  officials  here  named  were  doubtless  the  heads  of 
the  temple  hierarchy  ;  cf.  xxiii.  4,  xii.  9, 

the  second  priest.  The  Hebrew  might  be  rendered  '  a  priest 
of  the  second  rank '  (see  on  xxiii,  4;  ;  but  the  parallel  in  Jeremiah 
(lii.  24)  has  the  definite  article. 

19.  an  officer:  *a  certain  eunuch'  (marg.),  probably  a  civilian 
minister  of  war. 

of  them  that  saw  the  king's  face :  i.  e.  belonging  to  the 
inner  circle  of  the  king's  advisers.  Jeremiah  gives  the  number  as 
seven. 

the  scribe.  Read,  as  in  Jeremiah,  '  the  scribe  (secretary)  of 
the  captain  of  the  host '  (marg.). 

The  word  for  mustered  is  peculiar,  and  means  apparently  some- 
thing like  'mobilized,' 

21.  So  Jndah  was  carried  away:  lit.  'went  into  exile.'  In 
Jer,  lii.  28-30  there  follows  (but  from  an  independent  source) 
a  list  of  the  numbers  of  Judaeans  carried  captive  on  various 
occasions  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 

XXV.  22-26.  Judah  under  a  Bahylonian  Governor. 
The  passage  is  an  abridgement  (made  perhaps  by  the  younger 
redactor)  of  the  minute  and  thrilling  narrative  of  Baruch  in 
Jer,  xxxix,  ii-xliii.  7.  Gedaliah,  a  Judaean  of  noble  birth  and 
a  friend  of  Jeremiah  (see  below),  was  appointed  governor  of  the 
desolated  province.  He  fixed  his  residence  at  Mizpah,  in  the 
vicuiity  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  speedily  gained  the  confidence  of 
the  scattered  commandos  in  the  field,  whom  he  induced  to  accept 
the  new  regime  and  settle  down  as  peaceful  cultivators  of  the  soil. 


II    KINGS  25.  23.     D^  437 

them  he  made  Gedah'ah  the  son  of  Ahikam,  the  son  of 
Shaphan,  governor. 

Now  when  all  the  captains  of  the  forces,   they  and  23 
their  men,  heard  that  the  king  of  Babylon  had  made 
Gedaliah  governor,  they  came  to  Gedaliah  to  Mizpah, 
even  Ishmael  the  son  of  Ncthaniah,  and  Johanan  the 


This  hopeful  beginning  of  a  new  social  order  was,  however,  ruined 
by  a  mad  act  of  revenge  on  the  part  of  a  scion  of  the  Davidic  house 
named  Ishmael,  who  treacherously  murdered  Gedaliah  and  those 
who  were  about  him,  including  some  Chaldean  soldiers.  The 
fuller  account  in  Jeremiah  relates  how  one  of  Gedaliah's  captains 
overtook  Ishmael  on  his  flight  towards  Ammon,  and  brought  back 
the  Jewish  prisoners  whom  he  was  dragging  into  captivity.  But 
the  feeble  community  had  received  a  shock  from  which  it  could 
not  recover.  Fearing  that  they  would  be  held  responsible  by 
Nebuchadnezzar  for  the  murder  of  his  deputy,  the  leaders  resolved 
to  migrate  to  Egypt ;  and  thither  accordingly  they  went,  carrying 
with  them  the  aged  Jeremiah,  who  had  vainly  endeavoured  to  turn 
them  from  their  purpose. 

22.  Gedaliah  the  son  of  Ahikam.  Ahikam  was  one  of  the 
nobles  who,  on  a  memorable  occasion,  intervened  to  protect 
Jeremiah  from  the  fury  of  the  priests  and  the  people  (Jer.  xxvi.  24). 
At  an  earlier  period  he  had  been  one  of  the  deputation  who  went 
to  consult  the  prophetess  Huldah  regarding  the  book  of  the  law 
discovered  in  the  temple  (xxii.  12).  These  incidents  help  to  explain 
the  choice  of  Gedaliah  for  the  difficult  post  of  governor  under 
a  foreign  rule.  His  family  stood  high  in  the  esteem  both  of  the 
court  and  of  the  people,  and  probably  belonged  to  the  moderate 
party  which  was  friendly  to  Jeremiah  and  opposed  to  the  insensate 
policy  which  had  brought  about  the  conflict  with  Babylon.  His 
fitness  for  the  position  appears  clearly  from  the  sympathetic 
narrative  in  Jeremiah. 

23.  the  captains  of  the  forces  are,  as  we  see  from  Jer,  xl.  7, 
the  commanders  of  armed  bands  in  the  open  country  which  had 
not  as  yet  surrendered  to  the  Chaldeans.  But  whether  thej'  had 
been  conducting  guerilla  warfare  during  the  siege,  or  were 
detachments  of  the  garrison  of  Jerusalem  that  had  escaped,  there 
is  no  evidence  to  decide. 

On  Mizpah  see  on  i  Kings  xv.  22. 

Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah  was  soon  discovc  red  by  the 
other  captains  to  be  a  traitor,  in  league  with  the  king  of  Ammon 
(Jer.  xl.  14)  to  assassinate  Gedaliah. 

Johanan  took  the  lead  in  exposing  the  plot,  and  afterwards 


438  II    KINGS  25.  24-27.     D^ 

son  of  Kareah,  and  Seraiah  the  son  of  Tanhumeth  the 
Netophathite,  and  Jaazaniah  the  son  of  the  Maacathite, 

24  they  and  their  men.  And  Gedahah  sware  to  them  and 
to  their  men,  and  said  unto  them,  Fear  not  because  of 
the  servants  of  the  Chaldeans :  dwell  in  the  land,  and 
serve  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  it  shall  be  well  with  you. 

25  But  it  came  to  pass  in  the  seventh  month,  that  Ishmael 
the  son  of  Nethaniah,  the  son  of  Elishama,  of  the  seed 
royal,  came,  and  ten  men  with  him,  and  smote  Gedaliah, 
that  he  died,  and  the  Jews  and  the  Chaldeans  that  were 

26  with  him  at  Mizpah.  And  all  the  people,  both  small 
and  great,  and  the  captains  of  the  forces,  arose,  and 
came  to  Egypt :  for  they  were  afraid  of  the  Chaldeans. 

27  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  seven  and  thirtieth  year  of 

headed  the  expedition  which  intercepted  Ishmael  and  recovered 
his  captives. 

24.  Pear  not  because  of  the  servants.  Read,  as  in  Jer.  xl.  9, 
'  Fear  not  to  serve.' 

25.  in  the  seventh  month :  of  the  same  year  in  which  Jerusalem 
was  destroyed.  The  complete  account  of  the  incidents  must  be 
read  in  Jer.  xl.  8ff. 

XXV.  27-30.  The  Release  of  Jehoiachin. 
The  Book  of  Kings,  which  has  been  on  the  whole  a  history 
of  national  decline  and  misfortune,  nevertheless  closes  with  a  note 
of  hope.  The  legitimate  sovereign  Jehoiachin,  who  had  languished 
in  a  Babylonian  prison  till  the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar  (562), 
was  set  free  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  following  reign, 
and  for  the  remainder  of  his  life  was  entertained  with  regal 
honours  at  the  court  of  Babylon.  The  precise  significance  of  the 
event  is  obscure ;  and  little  is  to  be  gained  by  speculation  regarding 
the  motives,  political  or  other,  of  so  remarkable  an  act  of  clemency 
on  the  part  of  Evil-merodach.  But  it  is  obvious  that  it  must  have 
excited  the  liveliest  expectations  in  the  Jewish  community.  The 
bestowal  of  royal  honours  on  their  king  was  at  once  a  recognition 
of  their  nationality  and,  from  a  higher  point  of  view,  a  pledge  of 
Yahweh's  continued  favour  to  the  d3'nasty  of  David,  round  which 
the  Messianic  hope  had  entwined  itself  (Meyer,  Eutsiclniitg  des 
Judenthums,  p.  78).  It  was,  in  fact,  the  first  indication  of  a  better 
future   for  the  people  of  Israel  j    and  we  can  understand  how 


II    KINGS  25.  28-30.     D2  439 

the  captivity  of  Jehoiachin  king  of  Judah,  in  the  twelfth 
month,  on  the  seven  aiid  twentieth  day  of  the  month, 
that  Evil-merodach  king  of  Babylon,  in  the  year  that  he 
began  to  reign,  did  lift  up  the  head  of  Jehoiachin  king 
of  Judah  out  of  prison  ;  and  he  spake  kindly  to  him,  and  28 
set  his  throne  above  the  throne  of  the  kings  that  were 
with    him    in    Babylon.     And    he   changed    his    prison  29 
garments,  and  did  eat  bread  before  him  continually  all 
the  days  of  his  life.     And  for  his  allowance,  there  was  3- 
a  continual  allowance  given  him  of  the  king,  every  day 
a  portion,  all  the  days  of  his  life. 

a  contemporary  historian  should  signaHze  the  incident  as  a  proof 
that  Jerusalem's  warfare  was  accomplished  and  her  sin  pardoned. 
It  is  probable  that  the  book  was  concluded  boon  alter  the  death  of 
Jehoiachin,  and  before  other  and  more  decisive  signs  of  the  coming 
deliverance  had  appeared. 

27.  in  the  seven  and  thirtieth  year.  Nebuchadnezzar  died 
in  562,  and  the  liberation  of  Jehoiachin  took  place  in  the  last  days 
of  the  same  (Bab^Monian)  year,  i.e.  in  the  spring  of  561  according 
to  our  calendar.  Reckoning  backwards,  we  find  that  the  year 
of  Jehoiachin's  imprisonment  must  have  been  598.  This  result 
agrees  with  Jer.  lii.  28,  and  furnishes  an  additional  argument  for 
dating  the  first  Bab3'lonian  Captivity  in  598  (not  597,  see  on 
xxiv.  12). 

Evil-merodach  (Bab.  Atml-Marduk)  reigned  only  from  563 
to  560.  We  must  suppose  that  the  favour  he  had  extended  to 
Jehoiachin  was  continued  under  his  successors  ;  otherwise  the 
expression  '  all  the  days  of  his  life '  would  hardly  have  been 
employed. 

did  lift  up  the  head:  as  Gen.  xl.  13.  In  Jer.  lii.  31  an 
additional  verb  is  inserted  :   '  And  brought  htm  forth  out  of  prison.' 

28.  the  kings  that  were  with  him  in  Bahylon  :  i.  c.  he  gave 
him  precedence  over  the  other  subjugated  kings  who  were  detained 
in  Babylon. 

29.  Cf  I  Kings  ii.  7. 

30.  Before  all  the  days  of  his  life  Jer.  lii.  34  has  the  more 
explicit  statement :   'until  the  day  of  his  death.' 


APPENDIX 

Note  I.     On  the  Site  of  Solomon's  Buildings. 

(p.    121.) 

In  trying  to  understand  the  position  of  the  suite  of  buildings 
described  on  pp.  116-121,  the  student  will  find  it  necessary  to  keep 
two  facts  before  his  mind.  In  the  first  place,  the  ancient  city  of 
Jerusalem  extended  much  further  south  than  the  line  of  the 
present  wall.  In  the  second  place,  the  natural  conformation  of 
the  ground  is  obscured  by  the  vast  and  irregular  accumulation 
of  debris  (from  30  to  120  feet  deep)  over  which  the  modern  city 
is  built.  The  leading  features  of  the  topography  have,  however, 
been  ascertained  by  a  series  of  excavations  carried  on  during 
the  last  seventy  j'ears  ;  and  it  is  now  possible  to  form  a  fairly 
distinct  conception  of  the  place  where  Solomon's  palace  must 
have  stood. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  premise  that  the  natural  site  of  the  cit}' 
consists  of  two  ridges,  carved  out  of  the  main  central  plateau 
of  Palestine  by  two  deep  valleys — the  Kidron  on  the  east  and 
the  IVddt  er-Rabdbt  on  the  west  and  south  — and  separated  from 
each  other  by  the  shallower  valley  which  Josephus  calls  the 
Tyropoeon,  running  nearly  north  and  south  between  them.  It 
may  now  be  regarded  as  a  settled  point  that  the  fortress  of  Zion, 
or  the  city  of  David,  stood  on  the  eastern  ridge,  near  its  southern 
extremit}',  and  therefore  some  four  hundred  yards  south  of  the 
modern  wall.  Excavations  conducted  by  the  German  Palestine 
Society  seem  to  show  (though  the  evidence  has  been  disputed) 
that  this  part  of  the  ridge  was  cut  off  from  the  higher  ground  to 
the  north  by  a  natural  depression  in  the  rock,  which  led  down 
to  the  Kidron  valley  somewhere  near  the  Virgin's  Spring.  This 
southern  spur  may  at  one  time  have  risen  to  a  higher  elevation 
than  at  present ;  and  it  is  possible  that  this  was  the  hill  artificially 
lowered  by  Simon  the  Maccabee,  so  that  it  might  not  overlook 
the  temple  (Josephus,  Ant.  xiii.  215  ff.,  Bell.  Jud.  v.  139). 
However  that  may  be,  the  next  summit  of  the  eastern  ridge  to 
the  north  now  rises  more  than  200  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
southern  spur  ;  and  this  summit,  forming  a  fairly  even  surface 
of  about  5,500  square  yards,  and  being  as  yet  unbuilt  in  the 
time  of  David,  offered  the  most  tempting  site  in  all  the  locality 
for  a  great  palace-fortress,  such  as  Solomon  designed  to  erect. 


APPENDIX— NOTE   I  441 

Here  the  temple  stood,  for  certain  ;  and  as  we  have  seen  that  the 
palace  stood  in  the  same  'great  court'  as  the  temple,  we  must 
seek  a  site  for  it  on  the  same  hill,  where  the  topographical  con- 
ditions may  admit  of  it.  But  first  it  is  necessary  to  determine  the 
exact  position  of  Solomon's  temple. 

The  whole  of  this  higher  summit  is  now  enclosed  in  the  Haram 
esh-Sherlf,  which  in  all  probability'  represents  the  temple-area  as 
enlarged  by  Herod,  and  which  forms  the  south  east  angle  of  the 
modern  city  wall.  The  Haram  is  an  irregular  quadrangle,  mea- 
suring roughly  1,500  feet  from  north  to  south,  and  i,ooo  feet  from 
east  to  west.  It  is  bounded  by  huge  retaining  walls,  built  up  from 
the  adjacent  valle3'S  on  all  sides  ;  the  south-west  corner,  indeed, 
actually  crosses  the  bed  of  the  Tyropoeon  and  rises  from  the  slope 
of  the  western  hill.  Behind  these  walls  the  earth  has  been  piled 
up  so  as  to  secure  a  somewhat  uneven  surface  at  the  natural  level 
of  the  summit.  Almost  in  the  middle  of  this  area,  but  nearer  its 
west  side,  stands  the  magnificent  building  called  the  Kuhbet 
essahra  or  'Dome  of  the  Rock'  (often  wrongly  designated  the 
Mosque  of  Omar}.  It  derives  its  name  from  a  sacred  rock  in  the 
interior,  measuring  about  sixty  feet  long  and  forty-five  broad,  and 
projecting  above  the  surface  from  four  to  six  and  a  half  feet. 
Although  nowhere  mentioned  in  the  O.  T.,  this  rock  figures  largely 
in  Jewish  tradition  •,  and  must  undoubtedly  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  most  highly  venerated  sacra  in  Hebrew  antiquity.  Now,  it  is 
conjectured  with  much  plausibility  that  the  rock  marks  the  spot 
where  the  altar  of  Solomon's  temple  stood  ;  and  a  channel  is  said 
to  be  still  visible  upon  it,  which  is  thought  to  have  convej^ed  the 
sacrificial  blood  to  a  cavern  underneath.  If  this  be  correct,  the 
temple  must  have  been  situated  to  the  west  of  the  rock,  where 
there  was  just  room,  without  any  very  extensive  substructures, 
for  a  building  of  the  prescribed  dimensions. 

From  this  point  the  ridge  shelved  gradually  down  in  a  south- 
south-east  direction  ;  and  on  this  side  alone  could  a  natural  site  for 
the  other  buildings  erected  by  Solomon  have  been  found.  It  is 
concluded,  therefore,  that  the  palace  lay  to  the  south-east  of  the 
temple,  at  a  somewhat  lower  elevation  (probably  on  a  series  of 
terraces)  ;  and  that  the  entire  complex  of  buildings  stood  well 
within  the  lines  of  the  present  Haram.  The  result  is  in  accordance 
with  the  constant  usage  of  the  O.  T.  :  one  '  goes  up '  from  the 
palace  to  the  temple  (Jer.  xxvi.  lo),  and  'down'  from  the  temple 
to  the  palace  (2  Kings  xi.  19  ;  Jer.  xxii.  i,  xxxvi,  12).  Again, 
there  is  an  ascent  from  the  old  city  of  David  to  the  palace  (i  Kings 
ix.  24)  as  well  as  to  the  temple  (viii.  i)  ;  so  that  the  palace  must 
have  stood  higher  than  the  city  of  David,  but  lower  than  the 
temple. 

The  relative  positions  of  the  various  buildings  within  the  great 
court  can  only   be  infeiTed   from  the  order  in   which  they  are 


442 


APPENDIX— NOTE   I 


mentioned  in  ch.  vii.  From  Ezek.  xliii.  8  we  gather  that  the 
royal  residence  was  next  to  the  temple — and  with  this  all  other 
indications  agree— and  therefore  the  most  northerly  of  the  series. 
Since  this  is  mentioned  last  in  vii.  i  -12,  we  may  assume  that  the 
description  proceeds  from  south  (where  the  main  entrance  of  tlie 
great  court  would  naturally  be)  to  north  ;  and  that  the  order 
and  approximate  disposition  of  the  buildings  was  somewhat  as 
shown  in  the  annexed  plan  (taken  from  Benzinger's  Hebraische 
Archaologie). 


n  ex 


u 


I.  Great  Court.  2.  Second  Court.  3.  Temple  Court. 

4.  House  of  the  Forest  of  Lebanon.  5.  Plall  of  Pillars. 

6.  Throne  Hall.        7.   Royal  Palace.        8.   House  of  Pliaraoh's  daughter, 
g.  Temple.  lo.  Altar. 

By  permission  of  Messrs.  T.  i*i  T.  Clark  and  the  Rev.  T.  W.  Davies,  author 
of  the  article  '  Temple '  in  Haslings's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 

For  fuller  information,  see  Stade,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel, 
(••  P-  315  ff-)  ;  the  Archaeologies  of  Benzinger  (p.  233  ff.)  and 
Nowack  (i.  p.  255  ff.,  ii.  p.  27  ff.)  ;  Baedeker's  Palestine  and  Syria 
(p.  36  ff.)  ;  Benzinger  in  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands  (p.  596  ff.)  ; 
the  articles  *  Jerusalem '  and  '  Temple'  in  DB  and  EB, 


443 


Note  II.     On  the  Story  of  Jeroboam  in  the  LXX. 
(p.  190.) 

In  the  existing  texts  of  the  LXX  (B  and  L)  the  history  of 
Jeroboam  I  is  given  in  two  distinct  forms,  of  which  one  agrees 
substantially  with  the  Hebrew,  while  the  other  is  peculiar  to  the 
Greek  version.  Tliese  we  shall  refer  to  as  H  and  G  respectively. 
The  former  is  found  in  i  Kings  xi.  26-31,  40,  43,  xii.  1-24,  25-32. 
The  second  account  comes  in  between  verses  24  and  25  of  ch.  xii 
(xii.  24*—^,  in  Swete's  edition)  ;  and  its  variations  are  so  striking 
and  important  that  we  give  here  first  of  all  a  summary  of  its  con- 
tents:— 

xii.  24*.  A  notice  of  Solomon's  death  (||  xi.  43),  followed  by 
the  introductory  formula  for  the  reign  of  Rehoboam,  in  a  form 
differing  considerably  from  xiv.  21  fl.  Thus  (in  B),  Rehoboam 
is  said  to  have  been  sixteen  years  old  at  his  accession,  and  to  have 
reigned  twelve  years  ;  and  his  mother,  Naamah,  is  described  as  the 
daughter  of  Ana  the  son  of  Nahash  king  of  Ammon  (cf.  xiv.  21,  *  the 
Ammonitess'). 

24^  Jeroboam  is  now  introduced  (evidently  for  the  first  time) 
as  an  Ephraimite,  a  servant  of  Solomon,  and  son  of  a  harlot  named 
Sareisa  (B)  or  Sareira  (L)  (cf.  xi.  26).  In  tlie  remainder  of  the 
section  there  is  some  confusion  of  text ;  but  the  probable  sense 
of  the  original  version  is  that  Jeroboam  was  appointed  overseer  of 
the  labour-bands  of  the  house  of  Joseph,  that  he  fortified  Sareira, 
raised  a  force  of  300  chariots,  and  rebelled  against  Solomon 
(II  xi.  26-28). 

24*^.  Solomon  seeks  to  kill  Jeroboam,  and  the  latter  flees  to 
Shishak  king  of  Egypt,  and  remains  with  him  till  the  death  of 
Solomon  (||  xi.  40). 

24*^—^  Jeroboam  hears  of  the  death  of  Solomon,  and  requests 
permission  of  Shishak  to  return  to  his  land.  Shishak  objects,  and 
gives  him  Anoth,  the  elder  sister  of  his  own  wife,  in  marriage  ; 
and  a  son  Abijah  is  born  to  them.  Jeroboam  renews  his  request 
for  leave  to  depart  ;  and  comes  to  Sareira,  where  he  collects  all 
the  tribes  of  Ephraim,  and  builds  a  fort  (||  xi.  43,  LXX).  The 
greater  part  of  this  section  is  plainly  borrowed  from  the  story 
of  Hadad  the  Edomite  (xi.  19  22),  which  no  doubt  represents  here 
an  interpolation  in  the  original  text. 

24'''—".  The  incident  of  the  sickness  of  Jeroboam's  son,  and 
the  consultation  of  the  prophet  Ahijah  (||  xiv,  1-18,  Heb.  ; 
wanting  in  the  present  LXX).  Ahijah  is  introduced  as  a  personage 
hitherto  unknown  ;  the  incident  takes  place  at  Sareira,  and  there- 
fore before  Jeroboam  becomes  king  ;  his  wife  is  called  b}'  her 
proper  name  Anoth,  and  not  being  a  queen,  of  course  does  not 


444  APPENDIX— NOTE   II 

need  to  disguise  herself.  24"'  is  in  the  style  of  the  compiler  of 
Kings,  and  pronounces  a  doom  on  Jeroboam's  house  for  which  no 
reason  is  assigned. 

24".  Jeroboam  proceeds  to  Shechem,  and  gathers  there  all  the 
tribes  of  Israel ;  Rehoboam  also  comes  to  Shechem  (||  xii.  i). 

24".  Jeroboam  is  designated  king  of  the  ten  tribes  by  the  prophet 
Shemaiah  (in  place  of  Ahijah),  with  the  symbolism  of  the  rent 
garment  (||  xi.  29-31). 

24P-\  The  people  approach  Rehoboam  at  Shechem  with  a 
petition  for  the  redress  of  grievances  ;  Rehol^oam  asks  for  a  delay 
of  three  days,  during  which  he  consults  first  the  elders  and  then 
the  young  men,  and  finally  answers  the  people  roughly  in  accor- 
dance with  the  advice  of  the  latter  (||  xii.  3-i4\ 

24** ".  The  people  renounce  their  allegiance  to  the  house  of  David, 
and  disperse  to  their  homes.  Rehoboam  returns  to  Jerusalem, 
followed  by  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  (1|  xii.  i6\ 

24^  At  the  turn  of  the  year  Rehoboam  musters  all  Judah  and 
Benjamin,  and  goes  up  to  fight  against  Jeroboam  at  Shechem 
[II  xii.  2i\ 

24-S^  The  message  of  Shemaiah  the  man  of  God,  given  in  terms 
practically  identical  with  those  of  xii.  22-24. 

Now,  it  is  evident  that  this  arrangement  of  the  events  of 
Jeroboam's  career  is  an  alternative  version  to  that  followed  by  the 
Hebrew,  and  could  never  have  been  intended  to  find  a  place 
alongside  of  it  in  the  same  work.  It  is  therefore  quite  beside  the 
point  to  argue  that  G  is  inferior  to  H  because  of  the  inconsistencies 
between  xii,  24  '^"^  and  the  previous  sections  now  found  in  the 
LXX  ;  the  main  point  at  issue  being  precisely  whether  these 
other  sections  were  in  the  original  LXX,  or  were  introduced 
in  the  course  of  redaction  in  order  to  assimilate  that  version  more 
nearly  to  the  Hebrew.  There  are,  in  fact,  just  two  questions  to  be 
considered:  (i)  which  of  the  two  accounts  is  the  more  original ; 
and  (2)  whether  there  can  have  been  a  recension  of  the  Book  of 
Kings  in  which  G  took  the  place  of  H. 

(i)  To  the  first  question  it  is  hardly  possible  to  return  a  decided 
answer.  We  must  bear  in  mind,  to  begin  with,  that  part  of  the 
original  H  has  been  displaced  by  the  compiler  to  make  way  for 
the  oracle  of  Ahijah  in  xi.  32-39  ;  so  that  in  their  accounts  of 
Jeroboam's  first  rebellion  the  two  records  may  have  been  in  closer 
agreement  than  now  appears.  In  the  next  place,  it  must  be 
allowed  that  in  the  present  form  of  the  text  G  does  not  come  well 
out  of  a  comparison  with  H.  The  account  it  gives  of  Jeroboam's 
breach  with  Solomon  is  confused,  and  (in  LXX  (B)  especially)  quite 
unintelligible.  The  story  of  his  marriage  with  an  Egyptian  princess 
comes  in  in  an  impossible  place,  and  is,  besides,  an  obvious  adapta- 
tion of  the  similar  incident  in  the  story  of  Hadad.  Ahijah's  strong 
denunciation  of  Jeroboam's  house  before  he  had  come  to  the  throne 


APPENDIX— NOTE   II  445 

is  an  anachronism  which  cannot  possibly  be  attributed  to  an  inde- 
pendent writer.  And,  lastly,  the  oracle  of  Shcmaiah,  forbidding 
the  people  to  go  up  to  war  with  their  brethren,  is  inconsistent  with 
the  previous  statement  that  Rehoboam  had  already  gone  up  against 
Shechem.  But  when  we  clear  the  text  of  certain  excrescences — 
viz.  the  interpolated  account  of  the  marriage  with  Anoth  (24^), 
the  closing  sentence  of  the  oracle  of  Ahijah  (24"",  which  is  in  the 
style  of  the  compiler),  and  the  warning  of  Shcmaiah  (24'?%  which 
we  have  seen  reason  (p.  189,  to  mark  as  possibly  a  late  addition 
to  Kings) — we  obtain  a  kernel  narrative  of  the  course  of  events 
whose  inferiority  to  H  is  by  no  means  obvious.  The  following 
points  at  least  deserve  consideration:  (a)  The  account  of  Jero- 
boam's overt  act  of  rebellion  in  24''  supplies  a  better  explanation 
of  Solomon's  desire  to  kill  him  than  Ahijah's  prophecy,  which  is 
expressly  said  to  have  been  a  private  communication  to  Jeroboam 
of  which  no  third  party  was  aware.  (b)  The  circumstances  of 
Jeroboam's  return  to  Ephraim  (leaving  out  the  episode  of  the 
marriage'i  are  inserted  at  the  proper  point  in  the  history  (24'^>^}, 
whereas  we  have  found  that  in  the  other  account  neither  LXX  nor 
Hebrew  has  been  able  to  find  a  perfectly  suitable  place  for  them  (^see 
on  xi.  43,  xii.  2).  (c,  With  regard  to  the  sickness  of  Abijah,  there  is 
room  for  difTerence  of  opinion  ;  but  if  we  disconnect  the  incident 
from  the  denunciation  of  Jeroboam's  dynasty,  and  look  on  it  simply 
as  an  event  in  the  domestic  history  of  Jeroboam,  there  is  something 
to  be  said  for  the  priority  of  G.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  any 
writer  who  found  it  in  the  form  in  which  it  appears  in  xiv.  1-18 
should  have  reduced  it  to  the  simple  proportions  of  xii.  24^~K 
(if)  2^^  gives  an  explanation  of  the  national  congress  at  Shechem 
which  we  miss  in  11.  (e)  The  statement  that  Rehoboam  actually 
went  to  war  with  Jeroboam  (24")  is  in  itself  credible,  and  is 
confirmed  by  xiv.  30.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  felt  that  the 
mantle-rending  incident  of  24"  loses  in  significance  by  being 
postponed  to  a  time  when  Jeroboam  was  engaged  in  active  measures 
for  seizing  the  crown. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  relative  value  of  the  two 
accounts,  it  seems  clear  that  they  represent  two  distinct  recensions 
of  the  Hebrew  text,  based  independently  on  some  earlier  document. 
For  if  it  is  impossible  to  derive  G  from  H,  it  is  equally  impossible 
to  derive  H  directly  from  G.  H's  account  of  the  proceedings  at 
Shechem  is  a  lucid  and  self-consislent  narrative,  marked  off"  from 
G  by  its  exclusion  of  Jeroboam  from  any  share  in  the  negotiations 
between  the  people  and  Rehoboam.  The  only  serious  gaps  in  the 
narrative  of  H  are,  (a)  the  account  of  Jeroboam's  revolt  under 
Solomon,  and  (b)  the  account  of  his  return  from  Egypt,  which, 
however,  may  be  partly  preserved  in  the  LXX  of  xi.  43.  Ch.  xii.  ao 
clearly  presupposes  that  his  return  was  unknown  till  after  the 
tribes  had  assembled  in  Shechem. 


446  APPENDIX— NOTE   II 

(2^  The  second  question  is  whether  we  can  suppose  an  edition 
of  the  Book  of  Kings  in  which  G  stood  in  the  place  of  H.  At  first 
sight  an  affirmative  answer  is  suggested  by  the  circumstance  that 
G  is  prefaced  by  an  introductory  formula  for  Rehoboam,  which 
yet  is  independent  of  that  in  xiv.  21.  Nevertheless  it  would  be 
extremely  rash  to  adopt  that  hypothesis,  since  it  furnishes  no 
explanation  of  the  parallel  account  of  H,  which  we  have  seen  to 
be  independent  of  G.  Moreover,  though  G  shows  marks  of  the 
hand  of  the  compiler,  they  are  quite  insignificant  compared  with 
the  numerous  traces  of  his  activity  in  H. 

It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  for  a  solution  of  this  very 
complicated  problem  we  shall  have  to  go  behind  the  redaction  of 
the  book  to  the  sources  from  which  it  was  compiled.  We  know 
that  for  this  period  of  the  history  the  compiler  had  two  if  not 
three  1  proximate  sources  at  his  disposal  —the  Chronicles  of  Judah 
and  of  Israel  (if  not  also  the  History  of  Solomon).  Now  the 
account  of  Jerol;oam's  elevation  to  the  throne  belongs  as  much  to 
the  history  of  the  one  kingdom  as  of  the  other.  Is  it  conceivable, 
then,  that  the  original  of  one  of  our  narratives  (presumably  G) 
was  taken  from  KJ,  and  the  other  (H)  from  KI?  The  chief 
objection  to  that  theory  would  be  the  fact  that  G  contains  so  many 
details  that  would  be  irrelevant  in  a  history  of  Judah.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  has  in  its  favour  the  fact  that  it  is  prefaced  by  the 
introductory  notice  for  a  king  of  Judah,  and  also  the  fact  tiiat  it 
leads  up  to  and  breaks  off  with  the  account  of  the  war  between 
Rehoboam  and  Jeroboam,  which  was  an  event  in  the  history  of 
the  southern  kingdom.  It  is,  to  be  sure,  highly  improbable  that 
the  compiler  of  Kings  should  have  incorporated  both  these  extracts 
in  his  work.  But  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  sources  were 
in  existence  long  after  the  publication  of  the  Book  of  Kings  ;  and 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  assuming  that  they  were  accessible  to 
editors  and  copyists  till  a  very  late  period.  One  of  these  we  may 
suppose  to  have  transcribed  the  second  account  of  Jeroboam  from 
KJ,  and  inserted  it  in  his  MS.  Whether  he  did  so  with  the 
intention  of  supplanting  the  other  account  entirely  we  cannot 
tell  ;  but  he  is  in  all  probability  the  person  responsible  for  the 
omission  of  xiv.  1-18  in  the  LXX.  The  redactional  additions  and 
interpolations  in  G  are  presumably  of  still  later  date,  and  borrowed 
from  the  Hebrew  text. 

See  further,  Kuenen.  Onderzock,  §  26,  «.  10  ;  W.  R.  Smith, 
OTJC\  p.  117  ff.  ;  Kittel.  History,  ii.  p.  206 f.;  Winckler,  Alttest 
Untersuchmigen,  p.  12  fF. ;  Benzinger,  Commentary,  p.  97  f.  ; 
Burney,  Notes,  p.  163  ff. 


447 


NoTK  III.     On  the  Chronology  ok  the  Reigns  or 
Amaziah,  Azariah,  and  Jeroboam  II  (p.  361). 

It  would  be  a  great  point  gained  if  the  two  errors  referred  to  in 
the  note  could  be  traced  to  a  single  source  ;  and  a  noteworthy 
attempt  in  this  direction  has  been  made  by  F.  Riihl,  in  Deutsche 
Zcitsclir.  fiir  Geschichtswissetischaft,  1895,  pp.  54-58,  171.     The  pi\ot 
of  the  theory  is  the  statement  of  xiv.   17  (accepted  by  Riihl  as 
historical)  that  Amaziah  lived  (not  reigned)  fifteen  years  after  the 
death  of  Jehoash.     This  is  taken  to  mean  that  after  the  battle  of 
Beth-shemesh  Amaziah  was  deposed  by  Jeiioash,  and  that  the  next 
twenty-nine  years  or  so  were  really  an  interregnum  in  the  history 
of  Judah:  since  Jehoash  must  have  died  soon  after  the  battle,  that 
period  falls  almost  entirely  under  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  II.    Riihl 
next  argues   that  Azariah    is  not   likely  to  have   recovered    his 
independence    during    the   life   of   so    powerful    a    monarch    as 
Jeroboam  II  ;  and  (accepting  the  s3'nchronism  of  xv.  i  as  resting 
on  a  sound  tradition)  concludes  that  Azariah's  real  reign  com- 
menced  in    the    twent3--sevcnth   of  Jeroboam    II,   and  also   that 
Jeroboam  II  died  in  that  same  year!     But  it  was  natural  for  the 
chronologers  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  to  reckon  the  nominal  reign 
of  Azariah  from   the  death  of  his   father,   who   (as  we  see  from 
xiv.  17)  lived  fourteen  full  3'ears  under  Jeroboam  II.     The  reign 
of  Azariah    was    thus   artificially    lengthened   by   the   diflference 
between  these  fourteen  years  and  the  total  length  of  the  reign  of 
Jeroboam,  i.  e.  by  about  twelve  or  thirteen  years  ;  and  out  of  the 
inevitable  confusion  between  the  real  and  the  nominal  reign  of 
Azariah  there  arose  naturally  two  serious  miscalculations,   (i)  From 
the  synchronism  of  xv.    i    it   was  concluded   that  the  death  of 
Amaziah  had    not   taken    place    till    the   twenty-seventh  year  of 
Jeroboam  ;  and  since  it  was  still  remembered  that  Jeroboam  had 
survived  Amaziah  for  thirteen  years  it  became  necessary  to  lengthen 
the   reign   of  the  former  by  about  that  period  :  accordingly  an 
interpolator  changed  the  duration  of  Jeroboam's  reign  from  twenty- 
seven   to    forty-one    years.      But    (2)    a    still    later   chronologist, 
combining  the  forty-one  years'  reign  of  Jeroboam  with  a  plausible 
construction  of  xiv.  17,  arrived  at  the  conclusions  that  Azariah  had 
come  to  the  throne  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Jeroboam,  and  that 
consequently  the  two  monarchs  had  reigned  contemporaneously 
for  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven  years.     Since,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
Azariah  only  began  to  reign  on  the  death  of  Jeroboam,  this  amounts 
to  increasing  his  reign  by  twenty- six  or  twenty-seven  years.    We 
must  therefore  reduce  the  traditional  fifty-two  years  of  Azariah  by 
that  amount,  and  assign  to  him  a  real  reign  of  only  twenty-five  or 


448  APPENDIX -NOTE   III 

twenty-six  years.  There  is  no  particular  reason  why  we  should 
stop  at  this  point.  We  might  go  on  to  imagine  a  stage  at  which 
Azariah's  yeal  reign  was  reckoned  from  the  fifteenth  year  of 
Jeroboam,  with  the  result  that  he  survived  the  latter  by  about 
thirteen  3'ears;  and  then  we  could  explain  the  synchronism  ofxv.  8 
('the  thirty-eighth  year')  as  a  reckoning  backward  from  the  end 
of  the  fifty-two  years'  reign  of  Azariah.  But  this  matter  is  not 
dealt  with  by  Riihl.  The  truth  is  that  the  theory  is  too  intricate 
and  elastic  to  command  acceptance.  The  misconceptions  it  at- 
tributes to  successive  chronologists  are  anything  but  natural ;  they 
are  such  as  might  occur  to  a  modern  writer  working  towards 
a  definite  result,  but  they  do  not  follow  obvious!}'  from  the  assumed 
data  of  the  problem.  It  attaches  a  value  to  arbitrarily  selected 
S3-nchronisms  which  they  do  not  possess  ;  and  ignores  the  really 
historical  statement  about  the  succession  of  Azariah  in  xiv.  21. 
Moreover,  it  requires  us  to  abandon  the  fairly  well  established 
Assyrian  sj^nchronism  of  the  tribute  of  Menahem  in  738  (see  on 
XV.  17-22);  and  by  making  the  reign  of  Azariah  as  a  whole 
posterior  to  that  of  Jeroboam  II,  it  introduces  confusion  into  the 
chronology  of  the  prophets  Amos  and  Hosea. 


INDEX 


Abana  (Amana),  299. 
Abel-beth-Maacah,  sir,  365. 
Abel-meholah,  93,  241. 
Abiathar,  75  f. 
Abijah,  son  of  Jeroboam,  200  ff., 

443  f. :  see  Abijam. 
Abijam,  kingof  Judah,  40,207  f. 
Abishag,  59,  74  f. 
'  Abominable  image,'  209. 
Absalom,  59  f.,  207. 
Acts  of  Solomon,  book  of,  23, 

25,  27,  82,  184,  446. 
Adad,  177  f. 
Adamah,  136. 

Additions,  post-redactional,  32 f. 
Adonijah,  58  ff.,  67  f.,  74  ff. 
Adoniram,  Adoram,9i,  102,188, 
Adrammelech,  400. 
Ahab,  17,  2i9ff.,  243ff,  261  f., 

283  f.,  407. 
Ahaz,  364,  367  ff.,  421 ;  —  dial 

of,  403. 
Ahaziah,kingoflsrael,40,27off.; 

—  king  of  Judah,  319,  323  ff., 

336. 
Ahijah    the    Shilonite,    180  f., 

190,  200 ff.,  213,  255,  443  f. 
'Ain  es-Sultan,  221,  281. 
'Akaba,  165,  358. 
Almug,  algum,  168. 
Altar,  as  asylum,  68,  77  ;  —  of 

shevvbread,   112,  137;  —  of 

incense,  137 ;  brasen  — ,  154 f., 

371  ;   —   built   by  Solomon, 

164  ;  —  on  Carmel,  233 ;  — 

of  Ahaz,  369  ff. 
Amaziah,    king   of  Judali,    17, 

3$3ff-,447f. 


Amnon,  59,  60. 

Amon,  410. 

Anathotb,  76. 

Angel,  197,  238  ;  —  of  the  Lord, 

238,  273,  399. 
Annals  of  Solomon,  82,  90,  102, 

158. 
Anointing,  65,  99,  241  f,,  315, 

321  f. 
Anoth,  178,  443. 
Antimony,  327, 
Aphek,  249 f.,  351,  352. 
Apis-cult,  191. 
Arabah,  the,  358,  433. 
Ararat,  400. 

Architecture,  Phoenician,  105. 
Argob,  93,  364. 
Ark,  67,  77,  87,  139  ff.,  142. 
Armenia,  400. 
Arnon,  335. 
Aroer,  335. 
Arpad,  392. 
Arrian,  96. 
Arza,  215. 
Asa,  king  of  Judah,  17,  208  ff., 

365- 

Asher,  93. 

Asherah  ('asherim),  203,  205, 
209,  221,  334,  376,  384*  408, 
418;  —  prophets  of,  230. 

Ashtoreth,  Astarte,  175,1 82, 205. 

Ass,  65. 

Ass's  head,  306. 

Assessments  by  priests,  343  f. 

Asshurbanijpal,  379,  404,  406. 

Asshurdart  III,  357. 

Asshur-nirari  III,  357. 

Astral  worship,  375  ?•,  407- 


G   g 


450 


I    AND    II    KINGS 


Asylum,  right  of,  68,  77. 
Athaliah.  317,  336  ff..  340  f, 
Avva.  379. 
'Azarah,  332. 

Azariah,   son  of  Zadok.  90  ;  — 
king  of  Judah,   17.  42  f.,  45. 

357.   359  ff..    371.   447  f-;   — 
king  of  Ja'udi,  359. 

Baal,Baal-worship,2 19  ff.,  222  f. , 

230,  283,  331  ff,  341,  375. 
Baal,  prophets  of,  230  ff.,  286. 
Baal-shalisha,  296. 
Baal-zebub,  273. 
Baasha,  kingof  Israel,  209.  2i3f. 
Bahurim,  72. 
Baldness,  281  f. 
Balih,  375. 
Bamah,  85. 
Ban,  163,  254. 
Barzillai,  69,  72,  96. 
Bases  (laver  stands),  128  ff. ,  37 1 . 
Bashan,  93  f. 

Bath  (measure),  loi,  127. 
Bath-sheba,  61  ff.,  65,  74 f. 
Beer-sheba,  96,  237,  419. 
Beisan,  93. 
Beitin,  192. 

Beit  'Ur  et-tahta,  — el-foka,  162. 
Bel'ameh,  326. 
Belial,  sons  of,  257. 
Benaiah,  60,  91. 
Ben-hadad,  210,  245,  261,  306, 

314  ff.,  352. 
Benjamin,  tribe  of,  189. 
Beth-'Eked,  330 
Beth-el,  190, 192, 278,  281  f.  ,378 
Beth-hag-gan.  325. 
Beth-hanan,  92. 
Beth-horon,  162. 
Beth  nekoth,  404. 
Beth-shean,  93,  241. 
Beth-shemesh,  92,  355. 
Biographies  of  prophets.  28  ff., 

222  f.,    272  f.,    276  ff..    282  f.. 

29off.,  386ff. 
Bir  es^Seba',  237. 


BTr  'Ej'yub,  6t. 

Blr  Sitti  Maryam,  66. 

Bir'idri,  243,  245. 

Bit  'Adini,  395. 

Bit  Yakin,  403. 

'Blessing'(  ^-- present),  299,392. 

Blinding  as  punishment,  434. 

Blood-feud,  77  f. 

Boaz  :  see  Jachin. 

Borders,  129  ff.,  371. 

Bracelets,  340. 

Brook  of  Egypt,  155. 

Bui  (month),  ii6. 

Burden  (=  oracle),  325. 

Burial,  in  the  house,  78  ;  —  in 
family  sepulchre,  198  ;  —  of 
kings  of  Judah,  73,  409  f.  ;  — 
of  the  poor,  419. 

Burnt-offering,  154. 

Byword,  158. 

Cabul,  160. 

Calendar,  46,  116,  399,  432. 
'  Call  on  the  name  '  of  God,  147. 
Calves,  golden,  13, 17,170, 190  f., 

219,  375  f-,  378. 

Candlesticks,  137. 

Canon  of  O.  T.,  3. 

Cappadocia,  173,  310. 

Captain,  163,  249,  275,  309,  325, 
364;  —  of  the  host,  64,  71, 
292  ;  —  of  the  forces,  437. 

Captives,  treatment  of,  305. 

Captivity,  of  northern  kingdom, 
374  ff.  ;  —  first,  of  Judah, 
429  ff. ;  —  final,  of  J  udah ,  43 1  ff. 

Carchemish,  battle  of,  427. 

Carites,  337  f. 

Carmel,  92,  230  f.,  291,  293. 

Carob,  307. 

Castle,  217,  364. 

Chaboras,  375. 

Chapmen.  169. 

Chapiters,  123  ff. 

Chariots,  163:  see  Horses. 

Chemosh,  175  f.,  182,  283,  288  f. 

Cherethitesand  Pelethite.s,  65  f. 


INDEX 


451 


Cherith  (brook),  224. 
Cherubim,  113  f..  396. 
Children,  sacrifice  of,  368,  375, 

407. 
Chinneroth,  211. 
Chronicles,  books  of  (canonical), 

31. 
Chronicles   of   Israel,  book  of, 

23  ff-,   39»   185,   269,  446;  — 

Judah,  book  of,  23  ff.,  39,  317, 

428,  446. 
Chronology,  38-51,  and  notes, 

passim. 
Cilicia,  173. 
Colocynth,  295  f. 
Compiler   of   Kings,   148".;  — 

date  of,  22. 
Confiscation,  258. 
Cor  (measure  ,  95,  loi. 
Corruption,  mount  of,  421. 
Corvee,  91,  102,  160,  163. 
Court-history  (David),   27,  57, 

185. 
Courts  of  Temple,  116  f.,   121, 

401,  407,  442. 
Covenant,  loi  f.,2io,34i,4i6f. ; 

—  book  of,  417, 
Creditor,  rights  of,  290. 
Cresset- altars,  126,  135. 
Cromlech,  278. 
Cubit,  105. 
Cultus :  see  Worship. 
Curse,  72,  148,  221,  257. 
Cuth,  Cutha,  379. 
Cutting,  of  flesh,  232. 

Dad'idri,  243,  245. 

Damascus,    179!".,    299,    314  f., 

335>  352,  357,  359'  369. 
Dan,  96,  192,  211. 
Dance,  religious,  232. 
David,  ideal  king,  16,   201  ;  — 

old  age  of,  58 ;  —  dying  charge 

of,    69  f. ;    —    character    of, 

7off.,  73. 
David,  city  of,  73,  139, 145,  440, 
Dead,  mourning  for,  199,  204  ; 


—  raising  of,   226  f,   293 ff., 

351- 
Dead  Sea,  284,  358. 
Dtibir,  no,  112,  334. 
Dedication,  Feast  of,  154. 
Deshen,  195. 
Deuteronomy,    13  f.,    70,    144, 

354;  —  discovery  of,  411  ff. ; 

—  date  of,  411  f. 
Dibon,  283. 

Didactic  history,  5  f.,  8,  15  ff. 

Diodorus  Siculus,  88. 

Dog,  comparison  to,  316  ;  —  as 

scavenger,  202. 
Dome  of  the  Rock,  441. 
Dor,  92. 
Dothan,  304. 
'  Double  portion,'  279. 
Dove's  dung,  307. 
Dream,  84  f.,  156. 

Ecclesiasticus,  33. 

Ecstasy  (prophetic),  286,  316. 

Eden,  395. 

Edom,    165,    1778*.,   270,   285, 

288,  318,  354,  369. 
Egypt,  84,  173,  i77f-,390j  4o6, 

—  brook  of,  155. 
Ekron,  272  f.,  386. 
Elah,  king  of  Israel,  215. 
Elath,  Eloth,  165,  354,  357,  369. 
Elders,  139,  256  f.,  308,  328. 
Elegiac  rhythm,  397. 
Eliakim,  son  of  Hilkiah,  389  ;  — 

see  Jehoiakim. 
Elijah,    221  ft'.,    254  ft",,    272  f., 

276  ft". 
Elijah,  biography  of,  28,  222  f., 

254  f.,  262. 
Elisha,    241  ft".,    281  f.,    290  flf., 

305  ff"..  350  f, ;  —  Fountain  of, 

281. 
Elisha,  biography  of,  28,  276  fT., 

290  ft;,  305  f.,  313  ft".,  350. 
Elon,  92. 

Eltekeh,  battle  of,  386  f.,  394. 
Enchantments,  407. 


G   g   2 


452 


I    AND    II    KINGS 


En-gannim.  325. 

F'n-NebT  SamwTl.  211. 

Eii-rogel,  61. 

Entrails,  inspection  of,  371. 

ErTha,  221. 

Er-Ram,  210. 

Esarhaddon,  379.  400.  406. 

Esdraelon,  59,  93, 160, 162.  206. 

Es-Salt,  93,  262. 

Ethan,' 98. 

Ethanim  (month),  139  f. 

Ethbaal  (Ittobaal)  I,  47,  220. 

Eusebius,  224,  241,  262. 

Evil-merodach,  439. 

Evocation  of  deity,  147. 

Eye-powder,  327. 

Ezekiel,  429. 

Ezion-geber,  165,  270  f. 

False  prophecy,  263  if. 

Familiar  spirit,  408. 

Famine,  223  ff.,  295,  306.  313. 

Fasting,  257. 

Father  (title  of  honour),  299, 

305 '  350. 
Feast,  the,  140,  153  ff. 
Figs,  used  in  medicine,  402. 
'  Fill  the  hand,'  199,  325. 
Forest  of  Lebanon,   house  of, 

117  ff.,  170,  206,  404.  442. 
Forgiveness,  148. 
'  Framework'  of  Kings.  10-15  ; 

religious  judgements  of,    13: 

see  notes,  passim. 
Friend,  king's,  91,  94. 

Galilee,  159 1,  365. 

Garments,     rending      of :      see 

'  Mourning.' 
Gates  of  Temple,  341.  366  ;  — 

of  Jerusalem,  356. 
Gath,  79,  346. 
Gath-hepher,  358. 
^aza,  155,  384. 
Geba,  2ir,  419. 
Gebalites,  103 
Gedaliah,  436  ff. 


Gehazi,29i  ff..  295,  30off.,  3r3f. 

Gehenna.  420. 

Genubath,  177  f. 

Gerizim.  185. 

Gezer,  99,  160,  162. 

Gibbethon,  212,  216. 

Gibborim,  60. 

Gibeah  of  Saul,  2ir. 

Gibeon,  85,  157. 

Gihon,  61,  66,  405. 

Gilgal,  278,  291,  295. 

Gilead,  Gileadites,  93,  223,  364  f. 

Girdle,  274. 

Go'el,  216. 

Governors,  list  of,  91  ff. 

Gozan,  375. 

Graves,  family,  73,  78,  198. 

Gravestones,  422. 

Guardians,  328. 

Guards,  of  palace  and  temple, 

338,  340  f. 
Guest-chamber,     furniture     of, 

292, 
Guilt  offering,  346. 

Habor,  375. 

Hadad  (Edomite),  177  ff.,  443; 

—  (god),  245,  300. 
Hadadezer,  179,  245. 
Hagiographa,  4. 
Halah.  375. 
Hall,  of  Pillars,  119,  442;  —  of 

Justice,  119  f.,  442. 
Hamath.  155,  243,  358  f-,  375) 

379»  392. 
Hammurabi,  code  of,  148. 
Hand,  lean  on,  309. 
Hand  of  the  Lord,  286. 
Hanukkah,  154. 
Haram  esh-Sherif,  155,  441. 
Haran,  395. 
Hazael,  247,  314  ff.,334  f,,  346, 

352. 
Hazor,  161,  365. 
Headband,  253. 
Head-rope,  251, 
Hekal,  no. 


INDEX 


453 


Heman,  98. 

Hena,  392. 

Hepher,  92. 

Herem,  254. 

Hermon,  155. 

Herodotus,  125,  399,  403,  425. 

Hezekiah,  43  f.,  367,  382  ft'. 

High-places,  13,  85,  192,  209, 
270,  419. 

High  priest,  345,  412  f. 

Hilkiah,  411ft: 

Hinnom  (valley  of  Son  of),  61, 
420. 

Hiram  I,  47,  99,  159 f.,  164. 

Hiram  :  see  Huram-abi. 

Historical  books,  3. 

Historical  method,  5. 

Hittites,  173,  310  f. 

Holy,  291. 

Homer  (measure),  95. 

Horeb,  238. 

Horns  of  altar,  68. 

Horses,  66,  172  f.,  312  ;  —  and 

chariots,  60,  96  ; of  fire, 

279?  304  ; of  the  sun, 

279,  420; (figurative), 

279,  350- 
Hoshea,  365,  372  ff. 
Host  of  heaven.  265,  376,  407, 

418. 
Huldah,  408,  414  f.,  437. 
Huleh  (lake),  365. 
Humri,  218,  352,  379. 
Huram-abi,  121  f.,  135  f. 
Hyssop,  98. 

Ibleam,  326,  361. 

Idolatry,   16,   156,   174  ft".,  325, 

375  ft'.,  407  ff-,  4188". 
Ijon,  211,  365. 

Inner  chamber,  251,  266,  321. 
Inspiration  of  prophets,  264  ff. 
Interpolations,  31  f. 
Intreat  the  favour,  195. 
Isaiah,  368,  393  ff. 
Isaiah,  biography  of,   29,    382,. 

386  ft;,  400  f. 


Ishmael,  437  f. 
Issachar,  93. 
Istar,  175,  381. 
Ivory,  170,  171,  269. 
Ivvah,  379,  392. 

Jabbok,  191. 

Jachin  and  Boaz,  125,  340. 

Jashar,  book  of,  143. 

Ja'udi,  359. 

Jealousy,  240. 

Jeba',  211. 

Jebeil,  103. 

Jebel  Batn  el-Hawa,  421. 

Jebel  Hauran,  93. 

Jedidiah,  61. 

Jehoahaz,  king  of  Israel,  306, 

311,  347  f.;  —king  of  Judah, 

425  f. 
Jehoash,    king   of  Israel,    347, 

349ffv354f-  ;—kingof  Judah, 

336  f.,  342  fr. 
Jehoiachin,  429  ft".,  438  f. 
Jehoiada,  336  ft". 
Jehoiakim,  426  ff*. 
Jehonadab,  son  of  Rechab,  331. 
Jehoram,    king   of  Israel,  276, 

2828".,  290,  306,  315,  323  ff-? 

—  king  of  Judah,  276,  317  f. 
Jehoshaphat,    king    of   Judah, 

212,  219,  261  ft".,  2698". 
Jehosheba,  336  f. 
Jehu,  son  of  Hanani,  214,  255; 

—  king  of  Israel,  241,  320  ff. 
Jenin,  325  f. 

Jericho,  221,  278,  280  f. 
Jeroboam  I,  170,  180  ft".,  190  ff., 

205,  443  ff-  ;  —  sin  of,  190  ff.j 

203,  375  f- 5  378. 
Jeroboam    II,     347  f-,     357ff-> 

360  f.,  447  f. 
Jerome,  3,  411. 
Jerusalem,  fortification  of,  161; 

—  sieges  of,  355  f.,  429  f.  ;  — 
districts  of,  415  ;  —  fall  of, 
43,  431  ff. ;  —  topography  of, 
440. 


454 


I    AND    II    KINGS 


Jezebel,  220,  255  f.  ;  —  her 
persecution,  227  f. ;  —  and 
Elijah,  236  f.  ;  —  her  death, 
326  f. 

Jezreel,  59,  93,  236,  256,  328. 

Jiljilia,  278,  296. 

Joab,  6;,  71  f.,  91,  177. 

Joash,  son  of  Ahab,  266  ;  — 
see  jehoash. 

Job,  well  of,  61,  66. 

Johanan,  437  f. 

Joktheel,  354. 

Jonah,  358. 

Joppa,  loi,  162. 

Joram,  317  :  s^^  Jehoram. 

Jordan,  fords  of,  136;  — divid- 
ing of,  280. 

Josephus,  53,  86,99,  118,  i6of., 
220,  226,  440. 

Josiah,  411-425. 

Jotham,  regency  of,  45,360;  — 
reign  of,  366. 

Judaean  narratives,  29,  336  ff., 

343- 
Judas  Maccabaeus,  154. 
Juniper,  237. 
Justify,  148. 

Kab  (measure),  307. 

Kades,  365. 

Karkar,    battle    of,    46,   243  f,, 

3IO' 
Kamaim,  352. 
Kedesh,  365. 
Kemarim,  418. 
Kerak,  289. 
Kiblah,  150. 
kidron  (valley),  61,  418,  421, 

440. 
*  King's  face,  see  the,'  436. 
Kinsmen,  216,  330. 
Kir-hareseth,  289. 
Kishon,  234. 
Kissing,  242. 

Krethi  and  Plethi,  60,  66,  338. 
Kubbet  es-sahra,  441. 
Kue,  173.'  ' 


Lachish,  318,  357,  388. 

Ladder,  of  Tyre,  94. 

Lamp  (of  David',  19,  183. 

Larnaka,  laver-carriage  of,  128. 

Lattice,  273. 

Lavers,  127  flf^ 

Law,  book  of,  70,  354,  411  ff. 

Lebanon,  155,  162,  397. 

Leddan,  211. 

Lejjun,  93,  326. 

Lepers,  leprosy,  297,  310,  360. 

Letter,  257,  298,  328,  386,394f. 

Levites,  141,  192,  338 f.,  4J9f. 

Levy,  91,  102,  161,  163,  188. 

Libnah,  318,  394. 

Line  (measuring),  409. 

Litanl,  211. 

Local  religious  custom,  380  f. 

Locust,  149. 

Lo-debar,  352. 

'•  Look  in  the  face,'  355. 

Lord  of  hosts.  229,  279. 

Lucian  of  Antioch,  4,  36,  53,  57. 

Maacah,  207,  208. 

Madman,  232,  322,  324. 

Mahanaim,  93. 

Man  of    God,    190,    196,   250, 

291 ;  —  from  Judah,  1938". 
Manasseh,  404,  406  ff.,  421. 
Maneh,  170. 
Mantle,  242,  280. 
Mari',  352. 

Mariaba,  Marib,  166. 
Mas  (forced  labour),  91, 
Mattan-Baal,  341. 
Mazkir,  24,  91. 
Mazzal6th,  mazzaroth,  418. 
Mazzebah,  125,  204  f.,  283,  334, 

344,  422. 
Meal  offering,  154. 
Medinah,  248. 
Megiddo,  93,  162,  206,  326 ;  — 

battle  of,  424  f. 
Melek,  176. 
Melkarth,  125,  221. 
Meliihha,  386f. 


INDEX 


455 


Menahem,  361  ff.,  365  ;  —  tri- 
bute of,  44  f.,  362  f.,  368, 
426,  448. 

Menander  of  Ephesus,  47,  99, 
220. 

Merodach-baladan,  403. 

Mesha,  283  f. 

Messianic  expectations,  438. 

Micaiah,  261  ff.,  263. 

Midian,  178, 

'  Might 3'  man,  —  men,'  60,  x8i, 

297,  363- 
Milcom,  175,  182. 
Militarism,  163. 
Milk  :  see  Melek. 
Millo,  the,  161,  180  f.,  346  f. 
Minaean   inscriptions,  129  ;  — 

kingdom,  166. 
Mines  of  Solomon,  163 
'  Mingled  people,'  169. 
Minhah,  154. 
Ministers,  lists  of,  90. 
Miscarrying,  281. 
Misgeroth,  129  f. 
Mizpah,  211,  436  f. 
Mnevis-cult,  191. 
Moab,  272,  282  ff. 
Moabite   Stone,    85,    176,   218, 

283,  289,  301. 
Molech,  175  f.,  375. 
Month,  names  for,  104,  116. 
Monument,  422. 
Moses,    Law  of,   70,  354,  411, 

424. 
Mosque  of  Omar,  441. 
Mourning  customs,  251,  260  f., 

307. 
Mule,  65. 

Music,  religious,  286. 
Muzri,  84,  173,  310  f.,  374. 

Naaman,  297  ff.,  309. 
Nabopolassar,  427. 
Naboth,  254  ff.,  354. 
Nabulus,  185,  203,  2i8. 
Nadab,  king  of  Israel,  212  f. 
Nahr  Barada,  299. 


Nahr  el-A'waj,  299. 

Nahr  el-Mukatta,  234. 

Nakad,  nokad,'  284. 

Name,  Divine,  145,  147,  166. 

Naphtali,    93,     160,    161,    211, 

365- 
Narratives  of  North  Israel,  28  f., 

244,  305  ff. 
Nathan,  60,  61,  64  ff.,  85. 
Navy,  171. 

Nebuchadnezzar,  427  ff. 
Necho,  424  f.,  427. 
Nehushtan,  384. 
Nephesh,  167,  226. 
Nergal,  381. 
Nezib,  nizzabim,  92. 
Nineveh,  fall  of,  427. 
Nisroch,  400. 
Nobles,  257. 
Nusku,  400. 

Oak  of  Deborah,  197. 

'6b,  408. 

Obadiah,  227  ff. 

Officials,     royal,    90  ff.,     96  f., 

163. 
Oil,  beaten,  loi  ;  olive  ~,  290. 
'6lah,  154. 

Olives,  mount  of,  176. 
Omri,    216,    218  f.,    252,    283, 

319- 
Ophel,  301. 
Ophir,  164  f.,  270  f. 
Oracle,  106,  no. 
Origen,  3,  35. 
Osnappar,  379. 
Ox,  symbol  of  deity,  191. 

Palace,  Solomon's,   1 16  ff.  ;  — 

site  of,  440  ff. 
Palmyra,  162. 
Paran,  178. 
Parvarim,  421. 
'  Pass  through  the  fire,'  368. 
Passover,  Josiah's,  423. 
Peace-offerings,  154. 


4S6 


I    AND    II    KINGS 


Pedestal,  128. 
Pekah,  44  f.,  364  f. 
Pekahiah,  43,  363  f, 
Pelethites :  see  Cherethites. 
Pensioners,  royal,  72,  96. 
Penuel,  190  f.,  206. 
People  =  army,  216,  348. 
Persecution  of  prophets,  227  f., 

406. 
Pestilence,  149,  388,  399. 
Petra,  354. 
Pharaoh's    daughter,    marriage 

of,  83  f.,  98  f.,  174  ;  —  house 

of,  1 20,  164,  442. 
Pharpar,  299. 

Philistines,  212,  313,  384,  386. 
Pilgrimages,  293. 
Pillars.  204,  283,  334,  340,  376 ; 

—  of  palace  and  temple,  136  ; 

frontal  — ,  124  f.,  435. 
Planets,  418. 
Plethi :  see  Krethi. 
Pliny,  402. 
Plummet,  409. 

Poetry,  gnomic  and  lyric,  98. 
Polygamy,  174. 
Pound,  170. 
Pragmatic  history,  5. 
Prayer,  attitude  of.  146,  152. 
Present  (tribute),  369. 
Priestly  glosses,  31,  no,  139  ff., 

233- 
Priests,  78.  141,  192,  sco,  336, 

342  ff.,     378,     380;     —     'of 

second     order,'     418,     436; 

idolatrous  — ,  418. 
Primogeniture,  58. 
Prophetic   guilds,    228,    252  f., 

295,  298,  302. 
Prophets,    16,   26,    189,    196 ff., 

228,  247  ff.,  252ff.,255.26lff., 

285  f.,  322,  336,  358,  408. 
Prostitution,  religious,  205. 
Proverbs,  98. 

Providence,  Hebrew  views  of,  8. 
Province,  248. 
Pul,  Pulu,  363  i 


Punishment,  postponement  of, 
176,  261,  405. 

Queen-mother,  74  f.,  204,  209, 
317,  431. 

Rabsaris,  389. 

Rabshakeh,  389. 

Ramah,  210. 

Ramman,  191,  300. 

Ramman-nirari  III,  352. 

Ramoth-gilead,93,2i2,262,3ai. 

Ramoth-mizpeh,  262, 

Ravens,  224. 

Rechabites,  331. 

Recorder,  91. 

Records,  official,  23, 26, 217,318. 

Red  Sea   traffic,     164  ff.,  270. 

354. 
Redactor,  second,  i8ff.,  30;  — 

date  of,  22  f. 
Redeemers,  216. 
Reformation  of  Hezekiah,383f.; 

—  of  Josiah,  417  ff. 
Regalia,  340. 

Rehoboam,  184  ff.,  204  ff.,  444 ff. 
Reign,  methodsof  reckoning,40. 
Remnant,  doctrine  of,  399. 
Retribution,  principle  of,  15. 
'  Reviveth '  (of  time),  292. 
Revolt  of  ten  tribes,  184  ff. 
Revolution  of  Jehu,  320  ff. ;  — 

in  Judah,  335  ff. 
Rezeph,  395. 
Rezin,  367,  368. 
Rezon,  i79f.,  210. 
Riblah,  426,  431  ff. 
Riddles,  99,  167. 
Rimmon,  300. 
Ritual,  innovations  in,  370. 
River  ( =  Euphrates),  95  f. 
Rock,  sacred,  155,  441. 
Roofs,  place  of  sacrifice,  421. 
Rotem  (shrub),  237. 
Ruali,  167. 
Runners    (=  footguards),    60. 

206,  341. 


INDEX 


457 


Sabako,  374. 

Sackcloth:  s^^  '  Mourning.' 

Sacrifice,  kinds  of,  153 ;  morn- 
ing—, 287  ;  evening—,  233  ; 
human  — ,  288,  368,  376. 

Sakkuth,  381. 

Salt,  valley  of,  354. 

Salutations,  294. 

Samaria,  194, 199,  218  f.,  244  fF., 
282,  306  ff. ,  422  f. ;  —  fall  of, 

43,  372,  375,  385. 
Samaritans,  378  fF. 
Sarafend,  225. 
Sareira,  181,  184,  186,  443. 
Sargon,  372,375, 378  f.,386,  403. 
Satan,  177. 
Satyrs,  419. 
Scorpions,  187. 
Scribe,  90. 

Sea,  molten,  126  f.,  371. 
Seah,  233,  309. 
Sebustlyeh,  218. 
Seilun,  181. 
Sela,  354. 
Sennacherib,    384,    400,    403  ; 

campaign  of  — ,  385  ff. 
Sepharvaim,  380,  392, 
Septuagint,  33-8. 
Serpent,  brasen,  384. 
Serpent-worship,  384. 
Servant,  king's,  414. 
Seve,  374. 
Shaalbim,  92. 
Shab'i,  374. 
'  Shake  the  head,'  397. 
Shalish,  163,  309. 
Shallum,  361. 
Shalmaneser  II,  45,   243,   315, 

335;  — ni,357;  — IV,372ff., 

380. 
Shamash  (sun  god),  420. 
Shamash-shum-ukin,  406. 
Shaphan,  412,  414. 
Sharezer,  400. 
Sharon,  plain  of,  92,  249  f. 
Sheba,   166;   —  queen  of,   82, 

97,  166  flf. 


Shebna,  389,  393. 
Shechem,  185,  190,  203.  444. 
Sheepmaster,  284. 
Shelabbim,  129  f. 
Shelamim,  154. 
Shemaiah,  189  f.,  444  f. 
Sheol,  71,  73. 
Shephelah,  172,  357. 
Shewbread,  table  of,  112,  137. 
Shields,  170,  206. 
Shiloh,  181. 
Shimei,  69,  72  f.,  78  fF. 
Shishak,  46,  83,  184,  191,  443  ; 

—  expedition  of,  205  ff. 
Shunem,  59,  206,  291,  293. 

'  Shut  up '  and  '  at  large,'  202, 

358. 
Side-chambers,  106,  138. 
Sign,  prophetic,  195,  398,  402. 
Siloam,  canal,  405 ;  —  pool  of, 

405,  433- 

Sin,  ancient  views  of,  63  f.,  226. 

Sin  ofFering,  346. 

Sinai,  238. 

Sippara,  380. 

So,  king  of  Egypt,  374. 

Socoh,  92. 

Sodomites,  205,  419. 

'  Solemn  assembly,*  156,  332. 

Solomon,  16  f  ;  —  accession  of, 
57  fF.  ;  —  David's  charge  to, 
69  ;  —  character  and  policy 
of,  83  ;  —  wisdom  of,  88, 
97,  101,  171  f.  ;  —  wealth  of, 
169  ;  —  apostas\'  of,  173  fF. ; 

—  death  of,  184. 
Somali  coast,  165,  171. 

Sons  of  the  prophets.  228, 
252  f.,  278,  290,  295,  302. 

i    Soul,  226. 

i    Sources  of  Kings,  23-30. 

!    Sowing,  time  of,  399. 

I  Spirit,  167,  279  f.,  304  ;  —  fami- 
liar,  408  ;   —   of  God,    229, 

I        265  f. 

j    Stone-dressing,  103,  120. 

I   Streets  (=  bazaars),  252. 


45^ 


I    AND    II    KINGS 


Styrax  (slirub\  T48, 
Succession  to  throne,  57  f. 
Succoth,  136. 
Succoth-benotli,  381. 
Sundial,  403. 
Sunstroke,  293. 
Symbolic  act,  181,  350  f. 
Syrian,  language  of  diplomacy, 

"391- 
Syrian  wars,  241,  243/?,,  261  ff., 

303  ff.,  321,  346,  348,  352  f. 
Syro-Ephraimitic  league,    364, 
366,  368  f. 

Taanach,  93,  206, 
Tabernacle,  Mosaic,  85,  141. 
Tabernacles,  feast  of,  140,  155. 

193- 

Tables,  chronological,  48-51. 

Tadmor,  162. 

Tahpenes,  177  f. 

Talent,  160,  363. 

Tarn  a  r,  162. 

Tammuz,  125. 

Tappuah,  362. 

Targets,  170. 

Tarshish,  171  ;  —  ships  of, 
165,  171,  271. 

Tartan,  389. 

Tassets,  268. 

Tel-Amarna  tablets,  84,  91.  99. 
205. 

Telassar,  395. 

Tell-el-Ful,  21  r. 

Tell  el-IIasi,  357. 

Tell  el-KadI,  211. 

Tell  el-Kasls,  231. 

Tell  'Erfad,  392. 

Tell  Jezer,  162. 

Temple,  building  of,  28,  99  ff.  ; 
—  description  of,  103  ff.  ;  — 
furniture  of,  121,  435;  — 
foreign  symbolism  in,  126, 
127,  128 ;  —  dedication  of, 
138  ff.,  146;  —  repairs  of, 
342  ff,  ;  —  purification  of, 
418  ;  —  site  of,  440  f. 


Temple  dues,  343. 

Tent  (of  the  ark),  67,  77  ;  —  of 

meeting,  140  f. 
'Tents,  to  your,'  188. 
Teraphim,  424. 
Testimony,  340, 
Thapsacus,  96, 

Theocratic  institutions,  16,  145. 
Theophany,  239  ff.,  273. 
Threshold,     keepers    of,    345, 

418. 
Throne  of  ivory,  170. 
Tibni,  217  f. 
Tiglath-pileser    III,    44,     359, 

362  f.,     364  f.,     367,     368  f., 

372  f.,  392. 
Tiphsah,  96,  362. 
Tirhakah,  387  ff.,  394. 
Tirzah,  203,  211,  214  f.,  361  f. 
Tishbe,  223. 
Topheth,  420. 
Treasures  of  temple,  138,  205, 

209,  371  f. 
Tribes,  number  of,  182. 
Tribute,  369,  426. 
Tyropoeon,  420,  433,  440  f. 

Unleavened  bread,  420. 

Upper    chamber,    226,    272  f., 
I        291  f.,  421. 
}    Urijah,  370. 

Uzza,  garden  of,  409  f.,  429. 

Uzziah,  359  f.,  410. 

Vestments,  sacred,  333. 
Virgin's  Spring,  61,  66,  440. 

Wadi  Barbar,  299. 

Wadi  el-'Ahsa,  284,  286  f. 
I    Wadi  el-'Arish,  155. 
j    Wadi  el-Kelt,  224. 
I    Wadi  el-Milh,  354. 

Wadi  er-Rababi,  420,  440. 

Wadi  es-Sunt,  92. 

Wadi  Mojib,  335. 
1   Wall  of  Jerusalem,  84.  161,  355. 


INDEX 


459 


Warfare,  barbarities  of,   288  f., 

3^6. 
Whoredoms  (=  idolatr3'\  325. 
Wild  vine,  295  f. 
Wilderness,  of  Judaea.  78. 
Windows,   of  temple,    106  ;  — 

of  heaven,  309. 
Wisdom  of  Hebrews,  88,  97. 
Witchcrafts  (=  idolatry),  325. 
Word  of  the  Lord,  194,  253. 
World-ocean,  127. 
Worship,  centralization  of,  i3f., 

16,  84,  209,  383  f.,  390,  407, 

417  fr. 
'  Worthy  man,'  67. 
'  Wrought  stone,'  103. 

Xenophon,  96. 

Yahweh  Z6ba'6th,  229, 
Yarmuk,  262. 
Yoke,  186. 


Zadok,  60.  78.  90, 

Zair,  318. 

Zarephath,  224 ;  —  widow  of, 

224  ff. 
Zarethan,  136. 
Zechariah,  sonof  Jehoiada,  346 ; 

—  king  of  Israel,  360  f. 
Zedekiah,   prophet,  263  ff.  ;  — 

king  of  Judah,  431  ff. 
Zeredah,  180. 
Zer'in,  93,  236,  256. 
Zeruah,  181. 
Zidonians,  ick),  175. 
Zimbabwe,  165. 
Zimri,  king  of  Israel,  215,  2i6f., 

327. 
Zion,  67,  139  f.,  440. 
Ziv  (month  ■,  it6. 
Zobah,  179. 
Zodiac,  signs  of,  419. 
Zoheleth,  stone  of,  61. 


OXFORD;    HORACE   HART 
PRINTER   TO  THE  UNIVERSITY 


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